Pretty Buildings
by Faith Bell
Summary: Since she was abandoned by Sasuke, her only living relative, and then the circus, Hanako Uchiha has resigned herself to making her own way in the world. So when she ends up living on the cold streets of New York in the middle of winter, she's not expecting to be taken in by Kakashi Hatake, injured war veteran, or accidentally involved in an escalating war against the Russian mafia.
1. Chapter 1

The third time someone kicks Hanako as they're walking past, the tip of their boot clips her hip and she can't take it anymore.

'Watch where you're walking.' She snarls, sitting up and waving her arms like it's pigeons, not assholes, who keep stepping on her.

The dude - preppy, skinny, douchebag sunglasses in the middle of winter - takes one look at Hanako and backs up.

'Fuck off, bitch.' the douchebag says, but he's the one hurrying away.

Score one for the homeless kid. Hanako doesn't know why, but it seems she's a million times scarier to people when she's trying to sleep in an office doorway than when she's just a random teenager walking down the street.

That movement has left Hanako pretty exhausted, chest aching, so she slumps back down against the doorway and pulls the tattered edges of her sleeping bag back up around her shoulders. It's cold tonight. The sky's clear and it'd be pretty, except that Hanako's growing to hate stars. Stars in winter mean sub zero temperatures and teeth that chatter all the way to morning.

Another couple of people walk past, a boy and a girl this time, laughing to each other and not paying any mind to Hanako. That's how she likes it. She's not sleeping here for attention.

Then she coughs, this stupid cough that just won't quit, and the girl jumps, turning toward her. She obviously didn't mean to. Her eyes widen like Hanako's going to shank her when their gazes meet.

Hanako looks away, lifting a hand to cover her mouth, because she has manners.

'Here.' Someone says, and Hanako looks up through watering eyes to find the girl holding out a neat, clean-looking bill towards her. She's staying well back, feet planted on the sidewalk, just her arm extended towards Hanako.

Hanako swallows down her next cough and says, 'Thanks.' and takes the money. She's not proud anymore. You take money when it's offered.

'Oh, um.' She looks surprised, like she didn't think Hanako'd be able to speak or something. 'Sure.' Then she scampers back to her boyfriend and they both hustle off, neither of them looking back.

Hanako looks down at the bill. It's a ten. There's an all-night diner three blocks from here. She could get a cup of coffee, warm up her hands a bit, maybe even get a muffin. Instead, she lifts the back of her coat and tucks the money into her trouser's pocket, pats it, and sits back down.

Who needs warm hands, anyway?

Hanako decides to try lying down again, now that people have stopped walking all over her. This area gets really quiet at night, it's why it's one of her favourites to sleep in. She just has to put up with the dicks on their way to clubs and the drunks on their way home.

Lying down turns out to be a mistake. She's just gotten her eyes closed, when she starts coughing again. It's worse this time, like her lungs are rattling, and she struggles to sit up again. Knees pulled up against her chest, she still can't catch a breath and she coughs until her eyes sting and her head begins to pound.

Shit, she hates winter.

'Here.' Someone says and presses a bottle into Hanako's hand. She grabs it and looks up, just about able to make out the shadowed figure of a guy, blurred from the tears in her eyes.

Hanako checks that the seal hasn't been broken, then rips off the cap and chugs down some water. It soothes her throat and the itchy feeling in her ears just enough that she can pull in a full breath.

She starts coughing again right away, but the oxygen is still nice.

It takes half of the water and so much coughing that Hanako's ears ring, but eventually she manages to stop. The Good Samaritan stays close by the whole time, not crowding her or trying to touch her, but hovering, kind of like he thinks Hanako might keel over.

She turns cautiously and takes a look at him. If he's wearing a dog collar or a yarmulke, she's out of here.

He's not. He's just a regular-looking guy in sweats with a coat thrown over the top like he forgot something and had to go out again after he'd already gotten ready for bed. He looks _warm, _comfy, like someone who has a home and will be there again soon.

'Thanks, man.' Hanako says, voice hoarse. She tries to hand the bottle back, but the guy shakes his head. Hanako shrugs. She probably wouldn't want it back after someone had gotten their hobo cooties all over it either.

'Do you need anything else?' His voice is soft, very kind.

'Nah, I'm fine.' Hanako pulls her knees up close to her chest and fights to keep her eyes open. She's fucking exhausted.

'I could hear you coughing from up there.' The guy says, pointing up at the apartment building next door, 'That's not fine.'

Hanako just looks at him. 'Okay, say I'm not fine. You a doctor?'

Now he does look away from her, face shadowed in the shitty street lighting. Good. Go away. Hanako doesn't need help. 'No.' He steps back, then lifts a hand. 'Stay here.'

Hanako snorts down into her knees, because she's not planning on moving. It's not like there's anywhere better and moving means dealing with other people looking for somewhere to spend the night.

She's in that weird, exhausted place where she's not really asleep but she's definitely not awake either, when there are footsteps next to her and her new friend crouches back down at her side.

'The 7-11 didn't have much, but here.' He hands Hanako a paper bag. 'Cough drops, Tylenol, orange juice.'

'What?' Hanako asks, grabbing the bag to her chest and then sort of gaping down into it. 'Who are you?'

Now that he's closer, Hanako can actually make out his face. He's a lot younger than she expected him to be. He looks somewhere around his thirties, even though his hair is completely grey. She can make out light stubble and two dark coloured eyes. His expression's kind of blank, neutral, like he's waiting to see how she'll react.

'Just a guy who wants to sleep tonight.' He says, and gives Hanako a tiny smile.

She thinks about smiling back, but people don't smile at her, not unless they want something, and whatever this guy wants, Hanako's not going to give it to him. She's managed to duck come ons and full-on propositions for months and she's not going to break that now over some cough meds.

'Thanks.' She tucks the bag away inside her sleeping bag on her lap, folding her arms around it and looking up. 'I don't have any money.'

That earns her something close to an eyeroll. 'Really? I was hoping for a wad of cash.' He stands up, rolling his shoulders under his jacket and nodding at Hanako. 'Good night, then. Take care.'

Hanako watches him go, not really believing it. This perfect stranger just handed her a bunch of shit she would have never been able to afford on her own and then walked off like it was nothing.

She wants to call after him, but she doesn't. Instead, she opens the orange juice, takes three Tylenol, then pops a cough drop into her mouth.

She's too tired to do much else, so she shuffles back until she's propped up in the corner of the doorway and pulls the hood of the sleeping bag over his head. She's still cold and sick and uncomfortable, but one tiny little part of her feels connected to something for the first time in ages and it's weird how much that means to her.

* * *

Hanako falls asleep pretty easily for once, but then the temperature takes a dip in the middle of the night and she wakes up shaking with cold.

She hates nights like this. Not that the summer nights after she first ran away were exactly peachy, but at least she wasn't sick. She's achy down to her bones, so tense from the cold that she can't make her shoulders unhunch. Huddling as close to the wall as she can get, she tries to pretend that she can feel heat radiating from it.

It must be awesome to be inside, right now. All the years she spent hating wherever she was living and making plans to get out, Hanako thinks she should've taken the time to feel lucky that she had _somewhere_ to go, even if that somewhere was shitty.

With a tired groan, Hanako rolls over again, one arm coming up inside her sleeping bag to try to hold it closed tighter, until all that's left is a tiny eyehole for her to peer at the world through.

The doorway she's lying in is mostly darkness and shadows, but there's light still spilling out of some of the windows in the apartment block next door. The one where her Samaritan said he lives.

Because Hanako occasionally makes dumb decisions, and because light is as close as she's going to get to warmth tonight, she climbs slowly to her to her feet and shuffles next door, sleeping bag gripped firmly in both hands and her bag from the 7-11 clamped under one arm.

This stoop is shallower, just enough room for Hanako's ass, but she tucks herself up small in the corner, feet out of the way in case anyone wants to go past, and leans her head against the wooden door, closing her eyes.

Light spills out through the cracked glass in the front door, harsh and too-white, but still some tiny sign of life for her to cling to.

* * *

**Next chapter should be up tomorrow. x**


	2. Chapter 2

Hanako doesn't totally fall back to sleep, but she does manage to doze, her half-asleep brain conjuring up dreams that she jolts awake from every half-hour or so.

It feels like the night's never going to end, but she doesn't really care. It's not like she's super looking forward to the morning or anything. Morning just means rolling up her sleeping bag and washing up in a McDonald's ladies room, hanging out in the public library for a couple hours, basically repeating yesterday all over again.

Being homeless is boring. No one ever tells you that.

The first person out the front door this morning is a girl all dressed up to go jogging. It's still dark, but that doesn't mean much in winter, and Hanako thinks about asking her what time it is, but the girl takes one look at her, narrows her eyes, and looks away.

Hanako watches her run until she's disappeared into the fine, misty rain that's started coming and goes back to her cold little huddle. She's a bit less cold now, but she's not sure she should be. It's more that she can't really feel half her body than that she's actually warmed up.

Some unknown amount of time later, the door opens again and someone else steps out, also dressed in running clothes. This guy, though, he looks at Hanako, does a double-take and waves.

'Hey. You've moved.'

Hanako scrubs the palm of her hand over her gritty, blurry eyes and makes out her guy from last night.

'Yeah,' she says, kind of distantly concerned by just how croaky her voice comes out.

The guy frowns. It's lighter now and she can see concerned grey eyes and that same strange grey hair that's still flat on one side from sleeping. 'Not feeling better?'

Hanako shrugs one shoulder. She still doesn't get why this dude gives a shit.

He crouches down next to her, letting his hands dangle non-threateningly between his knees. 'You shouldn't be outside in this weather. Is there anywhere you can go?'

Hanako pushes back her hood, so that she can glare more effectively, 'Yeah, I got a fucking mansion two blocks over.' She starts coughing in the middle of the sentence but she's pissed so she manages to push the words out anyway.

She doesn't get punched in the mouth like she's half expecting. 'I meant, are there any shelter's you could go to?'

'Oh.' Hanako hunkers back against the wall, defensive. 'Not really.' That's the easiest answer and the only one she's giving, anyway.

The guy sighs. He's dressed for running, not sitting around chatting outside, and he's shivering a bit. 'My name's Kakashi.' he says at last, 'If I invite you inside are you going to think I'm up to no good.'

'Yeah.' Hanako's heart sinks. She thought this was an actually decent dude, but now he looks like he's just like all the other creeps. 'Of course I will. How dumb d'you think I am?'

'Of course you will.' the guy - Kakashi - echoes. He sits down on the step next to Hanako. 'So I have a problem. I can't leave you here an you won't come inside. What should I do?'

'Go running. I'm not your problem.' Hanako wishes she felt less shivery and gross. She always used to be awesome at making people believe she was fine.

Kakashi shakes his head, 'Not going to work.' he says, sadly, 'What if I come back and you've died of consumption on my doorstep?'

Hanako snorts, which is a bad idea because it sets off the coughing again. 'Consumption.' she chokes out, 'Dude.'

Kakashi does this thing where he smiles sideways at her. He did that last night, too. 'I have an idea.' he says, 'If you come inside-'

'No.' Hanako interrupts immediately.

'If you come inside,' Kakashi repeats firmly, 'you can bring your sleeping bag and everything and set up in the stairwell. How's that? It's not ideal, but it'd be warmer and out of the rain.'

Warmer and out of the rain sounds like heaven. 'You're not the only one who lives there. They'll call the cops.'

'In that building?' kakashi scoffs, 'They won't. Especially not if you tell them that I said it was okay.'

'You own it?' Hanako asks dubiously. She's sure this is a bad idea, but she's also pretty sure she's going to let herself be persuaded.

'No.' Kakashi stands up. 'Coming?'

Hanako hesitates, 'Just inside.' she repeats, 'I'm not going into your apartment.'

'Just inside.' Kakashi promises, 'You need a hand up?'

'No.' she answers automatically. Except she tries to stand and her fucking knees don't want to support her. She stumbles, catching herself with a hand against the door. She's kind of impressed that Kakashi doesn't grab her, that he respects her answer and just waits beside her.

Dizzy, Hanako blinks, but the sparkly lights stay in the corners of her eyes.

'Can I take your stuff?' Kakashi asks, then immediately amends to it, 'Carry. Can I carry your stuff for you?'

'I'm good.' she lies. She has to lean her shoulder against the door so she can step out of her sleeping bag, then she gathers it up, precious parcel of Tylenol and cough drops wrapped up inside.

Kakashi doesn't look like he believes her, but he doesn't call her out on it either. 'This way, then.' He holds the door open for her and Hanako slides sideways into the building, partly because she needs the wall to hold herself up and partly because she doesn't want to turn her back on a stranger.

The problem is that he doesn't seem like a creepy, rapey murderer, but then most bad people probably don't _seem_ like what they are.

The entrance lobby smells of bleach and it's so warm in here, compared to outside, that Hanako's lungs immediately stage a revolt. She spends some time bent double, trying to catch her breath, and when she does, she realises that she kind of grabbed Kakashi's arm so she wouldn't topple over.

In her defence, she'd been aiming to grab the banister.

'Woah, dude, sorry.' she says, snatching her hand back, 'nothing weird.'

'I promise not to become overexcited.' Kakashi says dryly. He looks Hanako over critically, 'It's four floors and there's no elevator. Can you walk that?'

Habit tells Hanako to say that of course she can, but her shaky legs and the way her head is throbbing from all the coughing makes her too honest, 'Maybe if you've got all day.'

Kakashi looks frustrated but, well, fuck him. Hanako didn't ask to be half-frozen. 'I could help you, but that would involve touching you and you don't want that.' he says.

Hanako eyes him. Kakashi is taller than she is and he's broad-shouldered and Hanako's gotten skinny lately. He could probably take her weight pretty easily.

'Hands above my waist and only over the jacket.' she says, 'Touch me anywhere else and I will kick you in the balls, even if it takes me down too.'

'That's fair.' Kakashi says, all serious and solemn like he isn't laughing at her in secret. 'Put your arm over my shoulder.'

Hanako does as she's told, even though it's awkward and weird and she can't remember how she used to touch people. Kakashi's arm goes around her back, way above her waist and Hanako finds that, yeah, Kakashi feels sturdy. He can definitely take her weight.

It's still a seriously slow shuffle up the stairs. Hanako has to pause too often, because the black spots in the corners of her eyes start to grow and she thinks more than once that she's going to pass out.

On the third floor landing, she leans into Kakashi more than she means to and Kakashi makes a cut-off sound, almost like a yelp.

'What, sorry, did I hurt you?' She asks, trying to let go of him.

Kakashi tightens his grip in return and keeps them going on up the stairs. 'It's fine.' he says, and doesn't elaborate. Since Hanako's got tons of secrets of her own, she doesn't push.

By the time they get to Kakashi's floor, Hanako kind of wants to die a little bit. She's also suddenly realised that she should be worried about how the fuck she's going to get down again. She figures that if Kakashi does turn out to be a total creep, Hanako will push him down the stairs and then stay up here where it's warm and light and really way nicer than she was expecting.

She sits down at the top of the stairs, automatically fitting her back against the wall, into the place where the stairs going up and the stairs going down make a right-angle. She slides her rolled up sleeping bag under her knees and lets herself close her eyes for a second.

'I'll get you some breakfast.' Kakashi says, quietly, like he thinks she might be falling asleep, 'Toast? Coffee?'

That gets Hanako's eyes open. 'Shit, no, you don't need to feed me too.'

'Well, I'm not going to leave you to starve.' He scoffs and rolls his shoulder a couple of times while he waits for her answer.

'Toast sounds good.' She finally, reluctantly admits. 'No peanut butter, though.'

'Not with that cough.' Kakashi agrees, and Hanako shrugs since she hadn't thought of that; she just doesn't like it. 'How do you take your coffee?'

Hanako doesn't mean to laugh, she really doesn't. 'Cream and sugar.' She says, like she's ordering coffee in a diner, like she's not half-collapsed in a stairwell ordering coffee from a random dude.

'Okay.' Kakashi says and smiles at her again before turning around and walking down the corridor. It's an open stairwell, no fire door, so Hanako can watch him the whole way until he reaches an apartment six down from where Hanako is and lets himself inside.

Alone, Hanako just stares around herself, pretty confused about how she got here. She's sitting on bare concrete and the walls are a gross browny-red colour, but everything looks clean and it's not like she's been able to be choosy lately.

While she's waiting for Kakashi, another door opens and a middle-aged lady comes out, dressed in scrubs and shoving her keys into her purse as she walks. She does a double take when she sees Hanako.

'Kakashi said I could sit here.' She says quickly. She can't have her calling the police.

The frown stays between the lady's eyes but she nods. 'Okay then.' she says and walks past her, down the stairs.

Huh. Hanako can't believe that worked. Whoever the fuck Kakashi is, his neighbours seem to trust him a really ridiculous amount.

When Kakashi comes back, he's carrying an honest-to-god serving tray, which he sets down on the floor in front of her. Forget about feeling like she's in a diner, now Hanako's in a super fancy restaurant, apparently.

There's coffee, a stack of buttered toast, a jar of grape jelly and some more orange juice. 'You really don't want me to die of scurvy.' Is all she can think to say.

'No, that's only cool if you're a pirate.' Kakashi answers, smiling when Hanako laughs. 'Did I hear you talking to someone?'

'Your neighbour lady in the scrubs.' Hanako says around the whole piece of toast that she just shoved in her mouth, 'She seemed okay.'

'Shizune.' Kakashi tells her. He looks at her, looks at the stairs, then sits down on the third step, at a right angle to Hanako. 'Is that okay? I don't have a lot of food in.'

'It's great.' Maybe she's ripping off chunks of bread with her teeth, but there'll be time for manners later. She had enough spare change for a Happy Meal mid-morning yesterday, but she hasn't eaten anything since.

She practically devours half the toast, then slows down, hesitating over the next slice and stops. When she notices Kakashi watching, she shrugs. 'Saving it for later.' She says.

'You can have more later.' Kakashi answers. Of course he does.

Hanako wants to tell him to stop. That she can't take this much kindness. The idea of food, followed by more food if she wants is such a big deal, she doesn't even want to think about it, in case it's not true.

'I'm good.' She says instead and picks up the coffee. It's creamy and sweet, which isn't how she usually takes it, but she'd wanted something something really dumb and comforting and this was the only thing she could think of.

'It's a blend from Africa.' Kakashi says quietly while Hanako drinks her coffee and tries not to moan at the taste. 'A friend sent it to me.'

'It's good.' She licks the cream off her top lip and stares down at the floor, not really sure what else to say or where else to look. 'You don't have to, um, stick around or whatever. I can take care of myself.'

Kakashi looks like he's thinking about it. 'I was going for a run.' He says, 'Sure you'll be okay on your own?'

Hanako raises an eyebrow at him. 'Pretty damn good at that already. Go on your run.' It's the same thing she said earlier, when she was freezing on the doorstep but Kakashi actually listens to her now.

He stands up, wincing a bit as he straightens then puts his hands on his hips, looking down at her. 'If anyone hassles you, mine is apartment 42.' He says, then throws his keys at her.

Hanako snatches them out of the air automatically and then frowns down at them. 'You're giving me your house keys?' she asks dumbly. 'Is there something, like, _wrong_ with you?'

'Nothing except a lack of gratitude.' Kakashi says archly. He looks Hanako over critically. 'Considering you couldn't get up the stairs by yourself, I imagine I'm safe from you running off with my TV.'

Hanako turns the keys over in her free hand. 'It could be an act.' she says, 'Maybe I do this a dozen times a week.'

Kakashi doesn't look worried. Does anything make him have a real expression? 'If you're that good an actor, you can have my TV and the fifty-three dollars under my mattress.'

Fifty-three dollars is an eighth of the money she needs to get to Kentucky. She thinks about it for half a second then hates herself.

'I'm not gonna go in your apartment.' She says, trying to hand back the keys.

Kakashi doesn't take them. 'They rattle when I run. You hold onto them for me, anyway.' He nods at Hanako like she can't totally see through what he just did there.

She huffs, embarrassed for him that he thinks she can be played that easily, and leans her head sideways against the wall, idly watching Kakashi jog down the stairs. She curls her fingers around the keys and then tucks that hand under her knees, keeping them out of sight. She's not going to use them, but she can look after them until Kakashi gets back.

* * *

Hanako must have fallen asleep propped up against the wall, because she blinks her eyes open to find a big, slobbery dog all up in her face.

'Shit.' She says, jumping even though there's nowhere to jump _to_, unless she wants to go through the wall.

Behind the big, slobbery dog is a big, less slobbery guy in an ugly ass tracksuit who's looking at her with a sneer and a mean glint in his eye.

'Hobos outside, bitch.' he says, accent unidentifiable but strong. 'Get out.'

'No, I, uh.' Her head feels muzzy and heavy. 'No, it's cool. Kakashi said I could stay?'

The tracksuit guys bares his teeth. A second later, so does the dog. Hanako's not sure which one of them growls. 'Who the fuck is _Kakashi_?' he sneers. 'You, you go bitch. Go or I feed you to my dog.'

Hanako shifts, trying to work out if she can outrun this dude and if she can make herself kick a dog in the face. She thinks the answer's probably no to both. She leans her weight onto her left hand and Kakashi's keys dig into her palm. She snatches them up and waves them in Tracksuit Guy's face. 'I live here, see. It's cool, we're cool.'

Tracksuit Guy does not look happy. Or convinced.

Hanako stands up slowly, although it's really more of an awkward slide up the wall, leaning her weight on her shoulder. She stuffs her sleeping bag up under one arm and really wants to go back for Kakashi's tray, but Tracksuit Guy is watching her.

She jingles the keys and shuffles around him. 'See? This is my apartment. This one.' She finds number 42 and slides the key into the lock. Tracksuit Guy keeps watching so it looks like Hanako is actually going to have to go into Kakashi's apartment.

Damn it.

The door is heavier than Hanako expected, but it swings open easily, like it's just been oiled. Hanako is hit with the smells of toast and coffee, which just makes her feel worse about abandoning Kakashi's stuff out there.

She glances back over her shoulder, but Tracksuit Guy is still watching. _Get a life_, she thinks, closing the door behind herself. She leans back against the door and tells herself that there is nothing to freak out about.

All alone in Kakashi's apartment, Hanako has no idea what to do. It's not a big place. The kitchen and the living room are open plan and there's only about eight feet of actual space between the breakfast bar and the couch.

There are two doors leading off the main room, both half open. One must lead to the bedroom, which means that it also leads to the fifty-three dollars.

Hanako turns away, putting her sleeping bag on the floor and sitting down on the couch. It's really soft. She can't work out if it's just a shitty couch or if it's been so long since she sat on one that she's remembering upholstery wrong.

There weren't a lot of couches or squishy armchairs in the circus and there are none at all on the streets.

Her back hurts. Her back kind of always hurts so it's not a big thing, but she leans into the cushions anyway, feeling a couple of muscles relax in a way that's really nice.

She yawns and scrubs a hand over her face, trying to wake up. She shouldn't be this tired. It's seems like all she's done is sleep since she met Kakashi. But her eyes keep closing and it's hard to remember why she needs to stay awake.

Maybe she'll take a walk around the apartment, splash some cold water on her face. Yeah, that's a good idea she decides, even as she's dozing off.

* * *

**Next chapter should be up by Sunday. x**


	3. Chapter 3

A phone ring really close to Hanako's head and she sits up, startled and disoriented.

'Sorry, sorry.' A voice she recognises as Kakashi's says. 'Go back to sleep.'

Hanako rolls over onto her back, which is when she realises that she's somehow gone from sitting up to lying down on the couch. Her head is pillowed on the arm, which is padded but hard, and the fabric smells a bit like stale milk.

Hanako stares blearily up at the ceiling, listening to Kakashi's side of the phone conversation and trying to convince herself not to go back to sleep again.

'Yes, I'm sorry, I left a message with your receptionist.' Kakashi is saying, tone a lot more crisp and professional then when he's talking to Hanako. 'I'm aware of that, but like I said, there's a family emergency ... Yes, of course ... Okay, thank you.'

'Family emergency?' Hanako asks, once she thinks Kakashi's done.

He sits down on the coffee table and picks up a glass of water, which he hands Hanako, who props herself up on one elbow. Kakashi waves a hand at her, 'You were too complicated to explain.'

She gulps down the water and frowns over the rim of the glass. 'You don't have to miss shit for me. I can leave. I didn't even mean to come here.'

Kakashi leans forward a bit. There's still a couple feet of space between them, so she doesn't feel crowded, just unnerved by having all of Kakashi's attention focused on her. 'Yet here you are.'

The water is helping Hanako wake up a bit. 'Yeah, there was this guy? Like, really mean, with a dog. So I told him I lived here. Sorry, I know I said I wouldn't come inside. I really can leave and - Oh, shit. I left your stuff in the hallway.'

'That's fine.' Kakashi holds up a hand, 'Don't worry, I found it. I was relieved to find you up here, I thought you'd left.'

'With your TV?' she jokes.

Kakashi doesn't smile. 'No, I didn't think that. The man with the dog, can you describe him?'

'Um.' Hanako shrugs. 'Mean. Tracksuit. Kinda Eastern European maybe?'

Kakashi's expression tightens. 'I hate those bastards.' he says, which startles Hanako into a laugh, even though Tracksuit Guy had been pretty menacing.

'Hey, wait. I had the keys, so how did you even get in here?' she asks.

'I picked the lock.' Kakashi says, like that's no big deal.

Hanako stares at him. 'Not seriously? No way. But you're all good and Christian and stuff.'

Kakashi makes a sharp sound like he's choking. 'Whatever gave you that idea? That couldn't be further from the truth.'

She blushes and tries not to feel weird about having thought about that, 'You took me in and fed me.' she says, 'You're either one of those Uber Christian types or you're a creepy pedophile. Which I really hope you're not.'

That makes Kakashi look thoughtful. 'How old are you?' he asks. Damn, she walked straight into that one.

'Eighteen.' she answers, lifting her chin and daring him to argue.

He dares. 'I don't think so.' he says. He doesn't sound mean about it. If anything, he's very gently teasing, 'I'd say, fifteen?'

That almost gets her mouth open to say that she is most certainly fucking _not_, but he realises in time that he's being played. 'How old are _you_?' she asks instead.

'Twenty-eight.' Kakashi says immediately, with a shrug. 'It's a simple question. You're not eighteen. If you were, you could have gone to a shelter last night. But if you're underage, you probably want to stay under the radar.'

'You don't know what you're talking about.' She says, not looking at him. 'And I'm _almost_ eighteen.' Eleven months is almost, right?

Kakashi looks like he wants to ask more, but instead he just says, 'Will you tell me your name?'

She's pretty sure that she shouldn't, but she also can't really see the harm. 'Hanako.' she says. She doesn't offer a last name, even a made up one, but then neither has Kakashi.

He nods and stands up. 'Would you like some lunch, Hanako? I brought supplies.'

'Lunch?' She asks, trying not to think about Kakashi stopping during his run just to buy food for her. 'I just had breakfast. Are you trying to fatten me up?'

'Yes, I'm the witch from Hansel and Gretel.' he deadpans, walking into the kitchen area and emptying shopping bags onto the counter. 'It's nearly two p.m.'

Hanako struggles all the way up so she's sitting. She meant to stand, but she's kind of woozy so she takes a pit-stop here. 'Two?' she asks, 'What time was it when you left?'

Kakashi's chopping something really fast, like he's one of those chefs on TV. Hanako's head feels less floaty, so she risks standing, walking over to see what he's making.

'About six when I found you, six thirty when I went for my run.' He's chopping mushrooms, eggs in a bowl on the counter beside him.

'Huh.' So Hanako accidentally slept on a stranger's couch for seven hours. She really needs to work on those survival instincts. 'What are you making?'

'Omelettes.' Kakashi points at the fridge. 'Grate some cheese for me.'

'Okay.' Hanako says, walking around him to get to the fridge. She reaches for the door handle, notices the dirt ingrained in her skin, her rough, blackened nails, and turns sharply towards the sink instead.

Kakashi doesn't say anything while Hanako scrubs her hands, pouring dish soap over them when she can't find anything else and running the water until it's almost too hot to stand. She's pretty much gotten over caring about not being able to wash up often, but now, standing here in Kakashi's kitchen, she feels gross and out of place.

Kakashi puts down his knife, but doesn't look at her when he says, 'You can take a shower. The water pressure's shit, but it's hot.'

Her skin feels itchy and tight. She's not sure if it's always been like that and she hasn't noticed or if it's all in her head. 'No thank you.'

'Sure?' He asks. He reaches for one of the pans, putting it on the stove. 'The door locks.'

Fuck. Is she that obvious? 'I said no thanks.' She makes herself turn off the faucet and dries her hands on the towel hanging off one of the cabinets. 'Cheese, yeah?'

Kakashi glances over his shoulder and smiles, 'Please.'

Hanako is not particularly skilled at grating cheese, but she gets a nod and a, 'Thanks.' when she hands Kakashi a bowl of badly mangled and torn-up cheese.

Because Hanako's body is being really dumb at the moment, grating cheese has left her exhausted. She leans her elbows on the counter, watching kakashi pour eggs into the pan and refusing to give in and sit down.

She does close her eyes though, but only once she's sure Kakashi's not watching her. Her brain feels heavy, like she's tired, which she can't be. She's slept a billion hours today.

'For fuck's sake, go and sit down.' Kakashi says out of nowhere, and Hanako jumps, grabbing the counter when she opens her eyes too fast and the world spins around her.

'I'm fine.' Hanako says, digging her fingernails into the cracked countertop. The spinning has slowed but she still feels unbalanced. 'But if you _want_ to do all the work.'

She makes it back to the cough without bumping into the coffee table, then sinks down, eyes closed again. She listens to Kakashi moving around the kitchen and tries not to think about going back out onto the streets tonight, where no one feeds her or swears at her for not looking after herself.

'Food's on the table.' Kakashi says after a while, softly. His footsteps pad away, disappear for a second, then come back, something rattling along with him. 'Hanako?'

She opens her eyes. The omelette looks great, but she's a bit worried about the small bottle of pills next to it.

'They're antibiotics. I won't be offended if you don't want them.' Kakashi says, sitting down next to her with his own omelette.

Hanako picks up her plate and chews on some omelette so she doesn't have to answer right away. Seems like all she does is say no to things Kakashi offers her, but she doesn't know how else to make sure she stays safe.

'You think I need them?' She asks.

Kakashi taps his fork against his plate. 'Well, with my complete lack of medical knowledge, I think you have a chest infection. But like I said, I won't be offended if you don't want to take my word for that, or if you're worried I'm trying to poison you.'

'Or get me hooked on drugs.' Hanako says, around her own fork.

'Or that.' Kakashi agrees easily.

'Don't you need them?' She asks at last, once her plate's empty and she's been eyeing the pills for a couple of minutes. The label on them says _Hatake, Kakashi_ so at least it doesn't look like Kakashi bought them off the internet or from a vet's office like that friend of Sasuke's used to.

Kakashi shakes his head. "I had some minor surgery a while back and was prescribed them after that. I'm fine now.'

Hanako drums her fingers on her knees and wonders what to do. She's got to start feeling better somehow, or she's never going to be able to make any money and if she doesn't make any money, she's going to be stuck in New York forever.

On the other hand, how much more beholden to Kakashi can she stand to be?

She picks up the pills. There are five in there, rattling around, and the label says to take three a day.

'If those help, I can probably ask for some more from my doctor.' Kakashi says, like little things as medical insurance aren't a problem for him.

'Fuck it.' Hanako mutters, and dry swallows one.

Ironically, it makes her cough, but she waves off Kakashi's worried look and tries to will it to work. After five minutes, when she hasn't died or started foaming blood at the mouth, she smiles cautiously at Kakashi.

'Thanks.'

Kakashi has been idly playing with his phone and acting like he's not paying any attention to her. 'You're welcome. They were just getting stale in the cupboard.'

Hanako didn't mean for just that, but she doesn't say so. She leans her head against the side of the couch and tries to keep her eyes open. It doesn't go so well.

'You're gonna tell me when you want to kick me out, right?' she asks. There is no etiquette here, but she still feels awkward.

'I will.' Kakashi agrees, typing something into his phone and frowning at whatever response he gets. 'Get some more rest.'

Hanako doesn't want to. She's always been physically active and she hates how exhausted she feels all the time. She wishes Kakashi's pills were magic.

'I'm making your couch filthy.' She points out, frowning at the way her bangs stick to the blue material of the back cushion.

Kakashi chuckles, 'It was never exactly spotless.' He says. 'I picked it up at Goodwill.'

Hanako doesn't get that. Kakashi's obviously got spare cash and he must have some kind of job, but he lives in this shithole building and his furniture's second hand.

It's also totally none of Hanako's business, so she doesn't ask.

'You could put a sheet down or something.' She offers anyway.

Kakashi rolls his eyes, puts down his phone and turns to look at her. 'You're not putting me off,' he says, 'and I'm not putting down a sheet like you're a stray dog.'

'I kind of am.' Hanako says, ignoring the disapproving way Kakashi reacts to that because she genuinely can't stay awake anymore. 'Sorry, I'm gonna crash.'

'Stop apologising for everything.' Kakashi says quietly, then stands up so Hanako can stretch out all the way across the couch. She's too tired to argue.

* * *

**Charlie, I'm completely ignoring all of my schoolwork for this story and it's all your fault. I hope you feel sufficiently guilty. That annoying Nara character you like so much will feature in the next chapter, but it definitely won't be out before Sunday. x**


	4. Chapter 4

Kakashi wakes her up some time later to take another pill, but Hanako barely remembers. She isn't really aware of much until her eyes snap open some point way later.

It's dark outside and dark in the room and Hanako's all alone, a soft blanket thrown over her shoulders. She rubs at her eyes and looks around until she finds the time lit up on the front of the DVD player.

Apparently it's 2:17 in the morning, which it _can't_ be, except that all the evidence is pointing that way.

Hanako really needs to get out of here. She doesn't know what the hell she was thinking, just hanging out here, leeching on all of Kakashi's hospitality.

She gets up, folds the blanket and stretches. She's not sure if it's the sleep, the warmth or the pill, but she thinks she feels better. Her head is way clearer, anyway, and her lungs don't ache with every breath, only every other.

It's chilly in the apartment, but not like it is outside, so Hanako can't really complain. She walks over to the window and pulls the blinds open, scowling at what she sees.

It's snowing. Massive flakes of snow are swirling down and already turning everything glittery and white. Hanako shivers reflexively. Maybe she can wait until morning to leave. Kakashi's asleep so it's not like he's going to know either way.

(Hanako knows that's an excuse, okay? But she's so warm for once and the idea of going outside makes her want to kick and scream like a little kid.)

Which leaves her wide awake, in someone else's apartment, in the middle of the night. She drifts into the kitchen for lack of anything better to do and finds dishes in the sink, evidence that Kakashi cooked himself diner last night without waking her up.

Shrugging, Hanako turns on the faucet and does the dishes. The water's warm, which makes her think about the shower she was offered.

She really wants a shower.

Silently, she creeps along the stretch of almost-hallway space between the living area and what she thinks is Kakashi's bedroom. That door is partially open, which just goes to confirm Hanako's suspicion that Kakashi is a crazy person. Who doesn't triple lock their bedroom door when there's a stranger in the house?

The bathroom is as cramped as everywhere else, but the sight of the toilet reminds Hanako that she really needs to take a leak. So she does that, then contemplates the shower.

'Yeah, okay, why not.' She mutters to herself, then turns around and checks the door. There's a bolt, just like Kakashi promised, which Hanako slides into place and tests a couple of times. It's pretty sturdy.

It feels weird, getting totally undressed. She's managed to keep herself not completely disgusting by using public restrooms to wash her face and under his arms, most days, and between her legs when she can get away with it. But she hasn't been naked in, shit, something like four months.

She stands in the middle of Kakashi's bathroom for a minute, totally bare, and looks down at her body. She was just starting to put on some muscle mass before the circus abandoned her, but now she can see her ribs and her hips and she's skinnier than she can ever remember being before.

The shower hisses out a steady stream of cold water, which she jumps back from, fiddling with the controls until the water turns warm.

No two showers in the whole world work the same, someone should look into that.

Hanako showers fast. She doesn't want to. She wants to stand here with warm water beating down on her and never, ever stop, but the falling water sounds way louder once she's inside it and she's suddenly worried about waking Kakashi.

Still, she steals Kakashi's shower gel and takes enough time to wash her hair then lather up everywhere. The run-off water swirls kind of greyish around her feet, which is pretty gross, but hey, at least it means that _she's_ less greyish now.

Once out of the shower, she turns to look for a towel and, instead, spots a square of paper that's been stuffed under the door.

_Towel_ it says in neat print, with an arrow pointing at the gap under the door.

Shit, so she did wake Kakashi up, after all.

Curious, Hanako unbolts the door and opens it a crack, squinting out. There's no one outside, but there is a dark blue towel sitting folded in front of the bathroom door.

She darts out, picks it up, and retreats back into the bathroom. As soon as she's shaken it out, she realises that it's not just a towel. There's clean-smelling grey sweats and a dark green t-shirt, too.

Considering Hanako was planning to get back into her filthy clothes, she decides to suck up her pride for once and wear Kakashi's clothes. It'll be a treat not to be stuck in the same clothes that are literally falling apart around her, for once - even if Kakashi's clothes are too big for her and she has to turn up the legs of the sweats twice.

Clean, dry, and dressed, Hanako picks up her own clothes and makes her way back to the living room. Kakashi's sitting at the kitchen counter, nursing a mug of something steaming.

'I'm sorry.' Hanako says quickly, putting her clothes down inside her sleeping bag and kicking them all back out of sight, 'I didn't mean to make so much noise.'

Kakashi rubs his temple with his fingertips and smiles sleepily. 'You barely made any noise. I was already awake.'

'Oh.' Hanako sits down on the spare stool and tucks her feet up onto the rungs. She feels vulnerable like this, in Kakashi's clothes and with her hair a tangled mess, still wet at the ends, but Kakashi looks tired and kind of soft, too.

She's never really hung out with anyone in the middle of the night before, but maybe this is what it's always like.

Kakashi stares down into his mug for a moment, then seems to snap to attention. 'Would you like some?'

'What is it?' She asks. It doesn't smell like coffee.

'Camomile and lavender tea.' Kakashi laughs at the expression Hanako can't help making. 'Yes, it's disgusting. Would you like some?'

She shrugs. 'Sure. I mean, you sold it so well.'

Kakashi smiles again and stands up, moving over to lift the kettle off the stove. He reaches up to open the cupboard above his head, winces, and drops his arm.

'I can get it?' Hanako asks uncertainly.

Kakashi's shoulders tighten, like he wasn't expecting her to have noticed his flinch. 'It's fine.' he says, putting the kettle down and using that hand to take down a mug.

Not sure where to look, since Kakashi clearly doesn't want Hanako watching him, she looks down at her borrowed t-shirt. She noticed some writing on it while she was putting it on, but she was in too much of a hurry to get out of the bathroom to stop and read it.

_US Navy SEALs_ it says on the left hand side, and there's a crest of some sort underneath it.

'Cool shirt.' She says softly, not sure if this is something else she's not allowed to ask about.

Kakashi sets a mug in front of Hanako and sits back down. 'Thanks.' he says, 'It doesn't get worn much, anymore.'

Hanako traces it with her fingers. 'Get it off eBay?' she asks.

'No.' Kakashi says, turning his mug one way, then the other. 'It's mine.'

Hanako's eyes flick up at him, trying to imagine him in the Army. Sure, he's pretty wide in the shoulders, but he doesn't look that strong or bulky. It's not just that, Kakashi has this quiet, unobtrusive air about him. He's more like a school teacher or a really nice librarian. Hanako can't picture him crawling underneath barbed wire with a knife between his teeth or whatever the fuck SEAL soldiers do.

Kakashi smiles at whatever expression is on Hanako's face. 'I was pretty good at it.' he says mildly.

She returns the smile, because boggling like that was probably pretty insulting. 'That's really cool. You, uh, you sure you don't mind me wearing this, then?'

'Just consider yourself lucky.' he says, 'I could have left out a Captain America shirt for you.'

'Captain America's cool.' Hanako says, not really sure what to say, not really sure if he's joking.

Kakashi nods like that was the right answer. 'There's a laundromat two blocks from here. You can wash your clothes there tomorrow, if you want.'

She looks up, sucks on her lower lip. 'I'm not staying.' she says, in case Kakashi has forgotten.

His expression kind of disappears for a second. 'I know that.' he says, 'but you might as well get clean clothes out of this deal.'

'Deal?' Hanako asks, taking a reflexive step backwards, shoulders tightening. 'I never made a deal.'

Kakashi holds up his hands immediately. 'That was a bad turn of phrase. I'm sorry. I meant, out of this situation. Of course there's no deal. I told you, I don't expect anything from you.'

She swallows hard an picks up her mug because her throat's dry. She manages a croaky laugh. 'You're right. This is seriously gross.'

'It's supposed to help you sleep.' Thank god, Kakashi's willing to let her change the subject. 'My neighbour swears by it.'

Hanako wants to ask why Kakashi doesn't sleep, but it's probably got something to do with how he's secretly in pain and doesn't want to let on.

'Maybe your neighbour falls asleep in self defence so she doesn't have to finish it.' She suggests, which makes Kakashi laugh.

They drink their tea slowly, catching each other's eye every now and then and kind of half-smiling. Hanako's yawning before she's halfway done, so maybe it is magic tea.

'Is the couch comfortable?' Kakashi asks, the first time either of them has spoken in a while.

'Yeah, it's good.' Hanako answers automatically, then stops and thinks about it. 'Or, I guess so? I don't really know. I was so fucking tired, I could have slept on a bed of nails.'

'That's being reupholstered.' Kakashi says, deadpan. 'Do you want a pillow? I found a blanket earlier, but I thought you'd probably punch me if I tried to put a pillow under you.'

Hanako bobs her head. 'Good call. But nah, thanks, I'm good without.'

Kakashi doesn't push. He stands up, mug in hand. 'You're tired. I'm going to finish this in my room.'

'Aren't you tired?' she asks, before she can stop herself.

'Exhausted.' he answers, with a shrug. 'Good night.'

'Night.' Hanako echoes, frowning after him. She knows that she's the tragic street kid in this scenario, but something tells her that Kakashi needs some help of his own.

* * *

**Yeah, so, it's not Sunday. There's also no Nara. This is all completely Lot's fault, I'll have you know. She talked all of these ideas into my head yesterday and made me change pretty much all my plans. Updates will probably be daily from now on, though, so I suppose that's a good turn of things. Take care. x**


	5. Chapter 5

Hanako's up and thinking about cooking breakfast when Kakashi emerges from his bedroom the next morning. He's combing his hair with his fingers and looks startled to see her vertical.

'Hey.' she says, taking in Kakashi's running gear before pointing at the window and adding, 'Take a look outside.'

He crosses to the window, opens the blinds, and curses.

'Yeah.' Hanako agrees, and pulls her blanket more firmly around her shoulders, like a cape. 'Pretty sure we're in Narnia.'

It looks like it's been snowing since last night and it still isn't slowing down. When Hanako looked out earlier, she couldn't see more than a few feet past Kakashi's building and what she could see was totally covered, awnings bowing under the weight of thick snow and cars buried past their wheels.

Kakashi looks at the door then back out the window and sighs. 'No run for me today, then.' he says. He blinks himself a bit more awake, focus sharpening on Hanako. 'Please don't tell me you're planning to leave in this. I don't want to break my promise by trying to talk you out of it.'

'I, um.' Hanako shrugs. 'I should, though. I can't just move in until spring, can I?' It's not a question. It's not supposed to be, anyway. It's supposed to be rhetorical, but it comes out more plaintive than that.

'I'm in no hurry for you to leave.' Kakashi says, meeting her eye. He looks and sounds so genuine. 'As you can see, I don't exactly have anything else happening in my life, so you're hardly getting in the way.'

'I can't.' Hanako says, surprised by how reluctant she feels. Despite all the conditions and provisos she keeps putting on everything, she does feel safe here. _Safer_, anyway, which is just as good. Kakashi looks disappointed for half a second and it's that, plus the snow, that makes her say, 'But can I stay today? If you really don't mind?'

'Of course I don't mind.' He says briskly, no-nonsense enough that Hanako starts to suspect that she imagined the disappointment. 'Coffee?'

Hanako decides not to mention that she was thinking about making breakfast. She's not someone Kakashi _wants_ in his home, she should stop trying to carve herself a place. Instead, she steps around him and gets down two mugs when he's not looking.

Kakashi looks at her, eyes narrowed, but Hanako just widens her eyes back and he gets on with making the coffee. She knows it's wrong to feel proud that she was slightly, sneakily helpful, but she does. At least, until Kakashi takes a look in the sink and frowns.

'Did you do the dishes?' He asks.

Hanako feels herself blush and hates it, looking away with a casual, 'Yeah, last night.' like it's no big deal, mostly because it really isn't.

'Oh' He sounds surprised. 'Thank you.'

She has nothing to say to that, so she sits down and swivels on her chair, rocking the bar stool up onto two legs and then experimenting with one. She manages to stay balanced pretty well until she realises Kakashi is watching, then she goes crashing back down onto all four legs.

'Nice balance.' Is all Kakashi says, setting a coffee in front of Hanako that's been doctored with cream and sugar, same as yesterday. Hanako should tell him that she doesn't actually take it like that, except not right now, because that'd be rude.

'Thanks.' she says instead, for the coffee and the complement. 'You working today?' She's almost ninety percent sure today's a week day. Maybe eighty-five.

'No, I ca- don't work at the moment.' Kakashi says, which is an interesting slip up but, again, totally none of Hanako's business.

'Sucks.' Is all she says and drinks her coffee.

* * *

There isn't a lot to do holed up in a tiny apartment with a guy she doesn't know. It's not that Hanako's bored - she's too grateful to be bored - but she is restless. She ends up turning on the TV while Kakashi's in the shower.

The news is all about the snowstorm, which she can see, thanks, so she channel surfs until she finds an episode of _Family Guy_ that she hasn't seen before. She's tucked up at the end of the couch, feet curled under the other cushion and laughing under her breath, when Kakashi's phone starts to ring where he's left it in the kitchen.

It really isn't Hanako's place to mess with it, so she lets it vibrate noisily against the tiles and ignores it. As soon as the call cuts off, it starts up again, but she still firmly ignores it. When it starts up again, she gets curious and stands up, going to check the screen.

_Yuki_ flashes across the screen, but nothing else helpful.

On the fourth call, Hanako finally decides that it might be an emergency and accepts the call.

'Hello?' she says, wishing immediately that she hadn't done this. Kakashi's going to hate her, this is an invasion of his privacy.

'Who the fuck is this?' a loud, angry voice demands.

Yep, this was such a bad idea, Uchiha. 'I, um. Kakashi's in the shower.' Hanako offers, then winces because wow, way to sound like last night's hook up.

The woman on the other end of the line obviously thinks so too, because there's a very pointed silence for a very long second. Hanako really hopes she isn't talking to Kakashi's girlfriend. 'Put him on the damn phone.' Yuki says eventually, sighing. It's not a wistful sigh, it's a big and gusty thing like she thinks she can blow Hanako to where she wants her.

'I can't, he's in the shower.' Hanako says again. 'I'm-'

She cuts herself off when Kakashi suddenly appears in the doorway, shower-damp with one towel around his waist and another around his shoulders, catching the drips running off his hair.

'I heard you talking to someone.' He says, almost like he was worried.

Hanako takes the phone and presses it against her chest, even though she can still hear Loud Angry Yuki talking into her collarbone. 'It rang like, four times, I thought maybe something really bad had happened. I'm sorry.'

Kakashi holds his hand out for the phone. 'How angry is she?' he asks.

'Very.' Hanako says, wondering if maybe Kakashi's psychic since he didn't ask who it was who'd called him.

Kakashi takes the phone and lifts it to his ear. 'Tsunade,' he says, 'what part of give me some time don't you understand?'

Hanako's about to point out that it's Yuki, not Tsunade, and that Kakashi maybe needs to work on that telepathy, but Kakashi doesn't look surprised by the voice that booms out of the phone, so maybe she's just out of her depth.

She turns away, giving them some privacy, but Kakashi's already walking away, saying, 'Yes, she's very young. No, it's not ... for _fuck's sake_, Tsunade,' as his bedroom door closes behind him.

Unsettled, and definitely wondering if she needs to start worrying about Kakashi like he worries about her, Hanako goes back to the couch. She's lost the thread of the episode of _Family Guy_, but she leaves it on anyway, so that kakashi won't think she's trying to eavesdrop on his call.

* * *

Kakashi doesn't mention his call from the Yuki-Tsunade woman, just comes out of his room twenty minutes later, dressed and looking kind of sad.

He claps his hands together briskly as soon as he meets Hanako's eye. 'Right. I'm thinking takeout for lunch. What do you think?'

'In this weather?' Hanako asks doubtfully.

'Someone will always deliver. It's New York.' Kakashi plucks a bunch of takeout fliers off the fridge and hands them to Hanako. 'What do you like?'

She knows this isn't a big thing. She feels really dumb about it, but she looks down at the takeout menus and feels totally overwhelmed with choice. 'I don't know.' she admits. Her hands feel shaky, but she curls them into fists so Kakashi won't see.

He sits down on the coffee table, the way he always seems to when he wants to talk to her about something important. 'It's just takeout,' he says, 'it doesn't matter.'

Hanako swallows hard. 'It's not just takeout. You need to stop doing shit for me. I can't- there's no way I can pay you back.'

Kakashi picks up the menus and puts them on the table. 'You're already doing things for me.' he says, frowning when she snorts. 'No, you _are_. You're keeping me company, giving me something to think about that isn't-' the way he changes tracks is more obvious than normal. 'That isn't what I usually think about. I appreciate that.'

Hanako reaches out and picks up the top menu. 'Pizza?' she asks, trying to smile.

Kakashi smiles back. 'Pizza,' he agrees. 'Although I should warn you. I'm originally from Chicago so I can get a little critical.'

'Must be nice.' she says. 'The only things they have where I come from are corn and then more corn.'

'A lot of Illinois' like that, too.' Kakashi tells her, then gets up to place the pizza order. Hanako can't really believe that he didn't push for more details about where she's from, after she gave him an opening like that, but she's really relieved that he didn't.

Not that there's anyone in Waverly, Iowa who'd give a shit about Hanako, even if Kakashi did track them down. She just really didn't want him to find out about her family history - he'd probably regret ever having given her those meds.

* * *

Hanako is snapped out of a dream about ice skating penguins by a short, sharp yelp. Her first instinct is to throw her blanket over her head and pretend she didn't see or hear anything, but then she remembers where she is - or more importantly, where she isn't - and sits up in a rush.

Kakashi's bedroom is silent now, but she's sure she didn't dream it. She presses her ear to the door and is still making up her mind about what to do, when there's another sound, more a yell than a yelp this time. Louder and more afraid.

Hanako pushes the door open and switches the light on. Kakashi's fine, no one's murdering him or anything, but he's flat on his back, hands twisted in the sheets, muttering under his breath.

Hanako thinks about leaving him, but she's had nightmares and she knows how much they suck. Cautiously, she crosses over to the bed and hesitates with her hand above Kakashi's shoulder. They've both been really careful about not touching each other.

Then Kakashi makes a sound that's halfway between another scream and a sob and Hanako tells herself to stop dicking around and do something. She squeezes Kakashi's shoulder, saying his name firmly.

Kakashi's eyes snap open and he moves faster than Hanako had any idea he could. He grabs her forearm, flips her, and Hanako finds herself flat on her back on the bed, the muzzle of what is definitely a gun pointed between her eyes.

Hanako freezes.

Kakashi freezes.

Then Kakashi's eyes clear and his whole face comes alive with one expression after another. Shock, horror, guilt, a bit more horror.

He pops the magazine out of the gun, very carefully sets both parts on the bedside table and gets off the bed, moving across the room until his back's pressed to the closet, as much space between them as possible.

'I'm so sorry.' he says, in a voice that sounds shredded. 'Hanako. Fuck.'

Hanako's heart is pounding so hard that she thinks she might throw up, but she manages to sit up and watch as Kakashi turns paler and more miserable by the second.

'I guess don't wake you up when you're not expecting it, huh?' she asks, voice shaking.

Kakashi shudders. His left arm is pulled tightly against his side and his other is across his chest, holding on to it. Hanako would bet he doesn't know he's doing that.

'I'm sorry.' he says again. 'I didn't know where I was.'

'Yeah.' Hanako nods slowly. 'Got that. You okay now?'

'I know where I am.' Kakashi says, which isn't an answer. 'Did I hurt you?'

'Nah.' Hanako's arm hurts where Kakashi wrenched It and she can feel the cold circle of the muzzle right above the top of her nose. 'Surprised me a bit. Although, I guess, SEAL, so of course you can do shit like that, right?'

'Never to a civilian.' Kakashi's still looking at her like the sight of her is making him want to puke. She tries not to take it personally. 'You're sure I didn't hurt you?'

Hanako decides that all this lying around in Kakashi's bed is maybe making her look more injured than she actually is. So she gets up and dusts herself off, doing a little stretch and pivot just to show off. 'Nope. Fine. See. Are _you_ okay? You don't look so good.'

Kakashi's gone from holding his arm to rubbing it, thumb moving in tiny circles like he needs to touch it but doesn't want Hanako to see.

He ignores the question and asks, 'Why did you wake me up? instead. 'Did you need something?'

'Just thought I heard a noise.' Hanako says, rather than _you sounded like someone was torturing you_, since she's pretty sure Kakashi's embarrassed enough.

Kakashi still blushes, like he's heard what she didn't say. 'Thank you.' he says, 'And I'm sorry. Again.'

'No big deal.' Hanako knows that she should be more freaked out that maybe Kakashi's a lot less stable than she thought, but she's weirdly calm. Hanako's brother'd had PTSD from the first Gulf War and he used to get wasted and punch kids. Hanako will take whatever Kakashi has over that.

Besides, she'll be out of here tomorrow and then it won't matter.

She watches Kakashi watch her and makes herself smile, all big and easy like she's not worried about anything in this world. 'You should go back to bed.' She says, edging towards the door, 'I'm going back to bed. And I promise not to wake you ever again.'

Kakashi doesn't smile. He stays by the closet, looking exhausted and sick and guilty.

'Kakashi,' Hanako says quietly, when she reaches the door. 'Please go back to bed.'

Kakashi's shoulders uncurl slightly and he nods. 'In a minute.'

Hanako goes back to the couch and pulls her blanket up the her chin, listening hard for any noise from Kakashi's bedroom. After what the DVD player tells her is fifteen minutes, she hears noises in the bathroom. Water running, then the rattle of what sounds like a pill bottle.

She rolls over so her back's to the room, just in case Kakashi wants to come out to the kitchen. He doesn't. She hears his bedroom door close softly, and then silence.

'Shit.' Hanako whispers to herself, because how is she supposed to leave tomorrow now?


	6. Chapter 6

Kakashi doesn't mention anything the next morning, so neither does Hanako. They're both quiet and tired and Kakashi's obviously in more pain than the days before, if the slow way he's moving around the kitchen is anything to go by.

The only time they come close to mentioning anything is when Hanako steps in again to get the mugs down and Kakashi makes a protesting noise.

'I'm doing it.' She says, more abruptly than she means to, setting the mugs down next to Kakashi and retreating to the other side of the breakfast bar just in case he decides he's had enough of her mouth.

Kakashi nods. He lifts the kettle, curses, and puts it down again, breathing through his teeth.

'I'm going back to bed.' he says, 'I'm sorry. I'm going to be terrible company today.'

'I don't need company.' Hanako says automatically, rather than _Are you okay? Can I help? What exactly is wrong with you?_

'I know.' Kakashi says softly and shuffles back the way he came, the whole left side of his body tight with what Hanako is pretty sure is some level of agony.

She makes herself coffee, just because that's their routine by now, then drinks it while looking out the window at the snow.

It hasn't snowed again and what fell yesterday is starting to melt, turning into that gross yellow-brown slushy stuff that slip-slides under your 'd been planning to leave today, and with the weather improving, he really can't put it off. But Kakashi picked her up - pretty much literally - off the streets and maybe saved her life a little. Hanako feels terrible about leaving when he's obviously having a really bad day.

So she sits on the couch and worries. Then she walks over to Kakashi's tiny bookcase, selects a book at random, and tries to distract herself from worrying. It turns out to be a novelisation of the last days of Captain America, so maybe Kakashi's crack about the t-shirt the other day wasn't a joke.

It's a terrible novel. Like, really bad. Hanako doesn't know that much about the comics, but even she knows that Peggy Carter was way cooler than this.

It's almost a relief, when someone starts hammering on the front door, but only almost because they're going to disturb Kakashi.

She jumps up and hisses, 'Coming. Shut up.' at the door while she tries to work out which order the combination of locks and bolts needs to be turned in to get the door open. It's only when she's already pulling the door open, that she realises there's a peephole that she probably should have checked.

There's a tall, seriously imposing blond woman standing on the doorstep, long green coat almost reaching the ground and a purple tattoo on her forehead. She also has very impressive breasts.

'Wow.' Hanako says, without meaning to.

The woman crosses her arms and looks down at her. 'So you're the kid.' she says and, huh, Hanako recognises that voice.

'You're Yuki/Tsunade.' she says, trying to work out if that's a good or a bad thing.

Yuki/Tsunade's eyebrows twitch. 'Tsunade.' she says, 'Tsunade Senju.' She holds out her hand and Hanako's startled for a second, before she shakes it.

'Hanako.' she says, swallowing down her surname even though Tsunade's whole demeanour screams that she expects one, 'Kakashi's asleep.' She manages not to wince at how she's once again making everything sound way more suggestive than it should.

'Really.' Tsunade looks down at her big, silver wrist watch. 'At ten twenty-seven in the morning.'

'Yes.' Hanako folds her arms over her chest and tilts her chin up, meeting Tsunade's eyes. So what if everything about this lady screams authority, Hanako's still not letting her disturb Kakashi.

Tsunade's expression flickers, then relaxes into something softer. Her eyes look concerned, 'Is he okay?'

Hanako shrugs one shoulder, pretty sure it'd be a betrayal to answer that. 'You tell me.'

Tsunade looks at her closely, then steps past her into the apartment.

'Hey, lady,' Hanako whisper-snaps, closing the door and grabbing Tsunade's arm. Tsunade whirls around on him, but Hanako stared down the barrel of a gun last night, so she can take her glare. 'I told you, Kakashi's sleeping.'

Tsunade laughs. It's deep and not very flattering, but she veers off into the kitchen rather than heading for the bedroom. She opens a drawer above the stove, which Hanako didn't even realise opened, and pulls down a bottle of Jack Daniels.

'Drink, kid?' she asks, settling it on the breakfast bar.

'It's ten thirty.' Hanako says, watching Tsunade pour herself some coffee and add a slug of whiskey to it.

'And you're about twelve years old.' Tsunade says, raising her mug to Hanako in a toast.

Hanako glares and sits down opposite her, pouring whiskey into her own half-cold coffee, just to prove a point. It's disgusting, but _that's_ not the point.

'So, what's your story?' Hanako asks, 'How d'you know Kakashi?'

'That is a long goddamn story.' Tsunade says, 'but it starts in a war that didn't officially exist, so I couldn't tell it, even if I wanted to.'

Okay, well now Hanako's interested. She drums her fingers on the countertop and pretends not to be. 'Which you don't.'

Tsunade smirks, 'Which I don't. And you're the kid Hatake plucked off the sidewalk like the Little Fucking Match Girl, apparently.'

'No.' Hanako says, mostly lies, just because she doesn't like the way Tsunade says it. 'Anyway, I'm leaving today.' Now Tsunade's here, she can leave, she realises. That's a good thing and it's dumb to feel bad about it.

'Hatake know that?' Tsunade asks.

'Yep.' With effort, Hanako stops tapping her fingers.

'Okay, kid.' Tsunade stands up, rinses her mug in the sink and then turns back to look at Hanako. 'Not that I'm not quaking in my boots at your protective terrier routine, but I'm going to talk to him now.' She picks up the bottle of Jack Daniels by the neck. 'If you hear yelling, it's just me beating some sense into his fool head.'

Hanako wants to protest, but she doesn't really have the right. Tsunade knows where Kakashi keeps his secret alcohol stash. They're obviously something like friends ands she's just... Well, what the fuck is she to Kakashi? She's nothing.

* * *

Kakashi comes out of his bedroom a half hour later, looking rumpled and embarrassed. He also looks slightly drunk, but Hanako doesn't call him out on any of that.

He sits down opposite Hanako and opens his hands, palms up.

'Seven months ago, I was shot in the shoulder.' He says, without preamble. 'I was a prisoner of war for seventeen days. By the time I was rescued, I'd developed septicaemia and I nearly lost my arm. I still experience a lot of pain and, like you saw yesterday, sometimes nightmares.'

Hanako doesn't know what to say. She slides her hands across the table and bumps her fingertips against Kakashi's. 'Shit.' she says, unhelpfully. She looks down at his fingers which are narrower and paler than Hanako's. She still can't imagine Kakashi as a soldier.

'I'm sorry.' he says, 'I probably shouldn't have brought you into this.'

'Can I do anything to help?' Hanako asks, looking at their hands. Then she feels dumb, because what could she do?

'Yes.' Tsunade's voice says from the doorway.

Kakashi looks over his shoulder, glaring at her. 'No,' he says, looking back at Hanako, 'but thank you.'

Hanako frowns, looking at one of them and then the other. 'Yes or no?' she asks. There's no point pretending that if there's something, she's not going to do it.

'No.' kakashi says again. He lifts his hands slightly and overlaps his fingertips with Hanako's pressing down slightly, like a thank you.

Tsunade drags another chair over from somewhere and plants herself between them. 'Or,' she says, looking directly at Hanako, 'you could listen to me. Hatake needs someone to make sure he takes his meds and follows his exercise regime.' She reaches into her pocket and pulls out her wallet. 'I'd say twenty dollars a day sounds fair.'

'What?' Hanako asks faintly, as Tsunade sets three twenties in front of her.

'Tsunade.' Kakashi snaps, 'Don't.'

Tsunade ignores him and just keeps eye contact with Hanako, who's trying hard to look back at her, except that she really wants to stare at the money instead. 'Stay here, eat Hatake's food, sleep on his couch and yell at him every time he's a stupid brat. Sound good?'

'I don't know...' Hanako says carefully, 'Kakashi?'

Kakashi sighs. He leans back in his chair and says to Tsunade, 'You're awful. Give us a minute?'

'Sure thing.' Tsunade slaps her hands down on the counter, grinning sharply. She drops a card on the table next to the money. 'I've got a sonogram appointment to get to. Give me a call if you're dumb enough to turn me down, kid.'

'Sonogram?' Hanako asks, as soon as Tsunade's gone and she starts to feel awkward.

'Second kid.' Kakashi says. 'Don't get her started.'

'She seems...' Hanako looks for a word, 'To care about you?'

Kakashi sighs, 'Yes.' He pauses, looks down, then looks up again, repeating more firmly, 'Yes. She does. But you don't have to go along with her schemes. I know you wanted to leave today and I'm perfectly capable of looking after myself.'

Hanako gives him a look, 'You're pretty good at looking after me.' she says carefully, 'not so sure about looking after you.' She feels weird saying this, but pushes on. 'I mean, how much did you fuck up your shoulder dragging me up the stairs the other day?'

'Only a little.' Kakashi says firmly. 'It was worth it.'

Hanako looks down at the counter, at the money and Tsunade's card sitting there. 'I need the money.' She says, hating herself since she knows Kakashi doesn't want her to take it. 'I'm really sorry.'

'Don't.' Kakashi touches their fingertips together again. It's like now that Hanako's shown it's okay to touch her a bit, Kakashi doesn't want to stop. 'I was going to try to trick you into staying, anyway. I'm a bit pissed at Tsunade for manipulating us both, but I'm not pissed at you.'

'Trick me into staying?' Hanako asks, looking up through her eyelashes. She wouldn't have stayed, not without a purpose, but it's nice to know Kakashi wanted her to.

'Subtly.' he says.

Hanako laughs. She picks up the money and curls it into her fist. She wants to tuck it away in her jeans' pockets with the rest of her secret stash, but not while Kakashi's watching. 'What do I need to do?'

'Honestly, nothing.' Kakashi says, hurrying on when Hanako starts to protest, 'I've been a little lax lately, but I'm an adult, I can do some exercises.'

'Yeah, no.' Hanako waves the money at him. 'Your hot and scary friend is paying me, so I'm gonna do what she wants.' She gets up. It's awesome to have a purpose, even if it's a mostly fake one. 'Starting with making you breakfast.'

'You think Tsunade's hot?' Kakashi asks, sounding bemused, not appalled, but Hanako freezes. She hadn't meant to out herself like that.

'Sure.' she says, staring into the fridge without seeing anything, 'In a scary way, not like I actually want to bang your friend.' She should stop talking. She grabs the first two things she finds, eggs and bread, and spins around.

Kakashi's laughing at her. It's a silent kind of laugh that's shaking his shoulders and it's the loosest Hanako's ever seen him.

'What?' Hanako asks plaintively. 'Dude?'

Kakashi waves a hand at him. 'I will pay you double if you tell Tsunade that to her face. Please.'

Hanako laughs with him, just because Kakashi's laughter is apparently really infectious. 'No way.' she says, shaking her head. 'Do I look crazy?'

'A little.' Kakashi says, starting to laugh again when Hanako automatically flips him off.

* * *

**I want to thank flagship and tft4 for reviewing, I appreciate it very much and I hope you enjoy the rest of the story.  
Next chapter will be up tomorrow. x**


	7. Chapter 7

After breakfast, Hanako talks Kakashi into showing her all the various meds he's supposed to take. Mostly it's painkillers and sleeping pills, but Hanako starts to feel really bad about having finished off Kakashi's supply of antibiotics.

'I can tell you now that I won't be taking the sleeping pills.' Kakashi says, putting the bottles back in the cabinet in the bathroom.

'Even though you're not sleeping?' Hanako puts her feet on the closed toilet lid and sits down on the cistern.

Kakashi watches her but doesn't object too strongly. 'Don't break that, my landlord's an asshole. And no. When I have a nightmare, I want to wake up as quickly as possible. The sleeping pills make that difficult.'

'Ugh.' Hanako says, because she hadn't thought of that. 'That's fair. I won't tell Tsunade that you're not taking them.'

Kakashi nods and, while Hanako's watching, rolls his eyes, twists the lid off the painkillers and dry swallows two. 'There, happy?'

'They happiest I have ever been about watching a dude swallow pills.' Hanako promises. Which, actually, is probably true. 'Now, tell me about these exercises?'

* * *

The exercises are much harder than the pills. For a start, Kakashi actually seems to want to do them, but he doesn't want Hanako to watch.

'I just need to do some stretches and some weight work.' He says, 'It's nothing you need to be here for.'

'You don't need any help?' Hanako asks doubtfully. Kakashi doesn't seem like the type to be skipping out on things that could make him better, if he can do them, which probably means that he's needed help and hasn't had anyone around to ask for it. When Kakashi hesitates, she adds, 'Come on. Your friend gave me twenty bucks, you've gotta help me earn it. Give me _something_ to do.'

It looks like Kakashi's having some serious internal struggle for a minute there, but then he says, 'Yes, you're right, okay.'

'Okay.' Hanako says, then looks at Kakashi.

Kakashi looks back.

Hanako waves a hand, 'Tell me what to do.'

'I know, I know, sorry.' Kakashi toys with the hem of his t-shirt and Hanako starts to suspect the problem. 'I need to stretch my arm in certain directions, but sometimes it's hard to really got a good stretch. I'd be grateful if you could help with that.'

'Sure.' she smiles at him, trying to look reassuring. 'Maybe take your t-shirt off?'

'Yes.' Kakashi says and nods firmly. 'There's some scarring.' he warns, before pulling off his loose-fitting t-shirt. He has some trouble getting it over his left shoulder, so Hanako steps in to help, getting a close-up view of the scarring as she pulls the t-shirt away.

_Some_ scarring is an understatement. The whole front of Kakashi's shoulder is a mess of neat, white surgery scars and what looks like some kind botched attempt with a butter knife. Hanako wonders if Kakashi did that on himself while he was a prisoner and ends up feeling kind of nauseated, so she quickly stops thinking about it.

'Yeah, that's a scar and a half.' She agrees, since Kakashi's obviously self-conscious about showing it off. 'Sure you didn't get bit by a shark?'

'Yes, that's it, I fought an epic battle with Jaws.' Kakashi says, starting to smile and his shoulders relaxing.

'Cool.' Hanako tries not to stare at Kakashi's chest, but she's stupidly curious. Kakashi's so calm and kind of nerdy and he's weird enough to rescue strange kids off the streets, but he's also a fucking war hero. It should make Hanako feel like the gulf between them is even wider, but all it really does is make her feel safe.

'I know it's disgusting.' Kakashi says.

'It's really not.' Hanako says softly. Then she snaps her gaze up to Kakashi's and blushes, 'I didn't mean that in a weird way, like I have a scar fetish or something, just-'

Thankfully, Kakashi just snorts and then sets about doing his exercises so Hanako doesn't have to dig herself any further into her humiliated hole. It's bad enough to realise that Kakashi's hot and heroic, it'd be way worse if she said that out loud.

Just like he keeps insisting, Kakashi can mange by himself for about half the exercises. His shoulder looks stiff and sore, but he keeps going until there's sweat along his hairline and the skin around his mouth is whitish grey.

'It's this part that I could use your help with.' he says, voice sounding thinner than usually, 'I'm supposed to lift it as high as I can, then bring it down and reach backwards.'

'Sure.' Hanako steps forward from where she's been mostly hovering uselessly, and lifts her hands. 'Where d'you want me?'

'Just-' Kakashi starts to lift his arm and gets it to just past shoulder height before he curses and swallows hard. 'Help me take some of the weight.'

For lack of anywhere better to touch, Hanako wraps one hand around Kakashi's bicep and places the other just below his elbow. With Hanako's support, Kakashi can lift his arm until his hand's pointing up, but then he sucks in a breath when he tries to straighten it.

The muscles under Hanako's hands are shaking and it makes her frown. 'Maybe that's enough?' she tries.

In reply, Kakashi lifts his arm another stubborn inch. "I'm supposed to do this ten times a day. I'll be damned if I can't even get to one.'

Hanako takes her right hand off Kakashi's forearm and puts it on top, stopping him from lifting his arm any further. 'Sure, but that's probably when the doctors thought you'd be able to do this every day and wouldn't be starting again after what, like, a couple of months? You're gonna break yourself if you keep pushing.'

Kakashi's expression turns tight and stubborn for long enough that Hanako thinks that she's fucked up and that that was totally the wrong thing to say. Then he deflates.

'Yes, okay. You're right.' He says, heavily. He lets Hanako take all the weight of his arm for a second, looking tired all over again.

'You did pretty good.' Hanako tries. 'Want lunch?'

'Are you suddenly in charge of feeling us?' Kakashi asks. He pulls his arm gently out of her grip and bends down to pick his t-shirt off the bed. 'You go on though, I need to warm down.'

Hanako narrows her eyes and points at him. 'No trying again when I'm out of the room.'

Kakashi salutes smartly with his good arm. 'Sir, no, sir.' he says dryly.

* * *

After lunch, Kakashi doesn't seem like he has the energy to do much more than sit on the couch and doze. Sitting and dozing are two of Hanako's new favourite things, so she doesn't object, just tucks herself into the other half of the couch and picks up the terrible Captain America novel again.

It takes Kakashi a little while to notice what she's reading, but when he does, he makes a face. 'I should've thrown that out as soon as I bought it.' he says, 'Are you enjoying it?'

Hanako shrugs one shoulder. 'I like the Howling Commandos bits.' She says, 'But yeah, it's not good.'

'What do you like to do?' Kakashi asks. 'You must be really bored just hanging out here with me.'

Hanako hasn't even thought about being bored. Hanging out here feels like a vacation and Kakashi's great company, even if he doesn't seem to think so. She doesn't say that, because she knows it won't come out right. 'I'm good.' Is all she does say.

Kakashi nudges her with his toes, just lightly. 'But what do you like to do? You must be interested in something.'

Hanako gets distracted looking at Kakashi's socked toes. There's a hole on top, just above his big toe and Hanako can see skin. She doesn't understand why that's distracting, but it is.

'Yeah, I'm interested in things.' she says. She thinks about it, not sure if this is a secret she trusts anyone with. But Kakashi's told her a lot of personal things today, so. 'Archery? I kind of, I used to have a bow. I was pretty okay at that.'

Kakashi doesn't say anything for a minute. Hanako wonders if he thinks that's a dumb thing to like, but when she makes himself look at Kakashi, she gets the impression that he's thinking carefully about what to say.

'Where did you get interested in that?' He asks at last. 'I though you were going to say hockey or something.'

'Hockey?' Hanako asks, wrinkling her nose. 'Nah, I'm not really a team sports kind of person.'

'Hey, I played hockey.' Kakashi says, smiling.

He doesn't push for an answer, so Hanako knows she can get away without giving one. She might as well though, since she's started. 'I was... for a while, I lived with a circus. That's where I learned.'

'A circus?' Kakashi asks, 'That must have been fun.'

'Yeah.' Hanako smiles quickly and finds that she means it, 'Yeah, it was good sometimes.' She fiddles with the cover of Kakashi's book until she realises that she's dog-earing the corner and makes herself stop. 'Yeah.'

Kakashi settles more comfortably with his back against the arm of the couch, and gives Hanako all of his attention. Which means Hanako finds herself talking. She doesn't tell Kakashi about Orochimaru or how it all went to shit or any of that, but she talks about performing, about finding her way around a bow, and it's really good to talk about it.

She's resented the circus for so long for going on without her, for not protecting her from Orochimaru, for taking Sasuke away, that it turns out she's forgotten all the good times.

'I wish you had a picture.' Kakashi says, once Hanako's finished telling him about the terrible outfit she had to wear. 'I bet you looked great in lycra.'

Hanako sticks her tongue out. 'Red lycra,' she says. 'And don't forget the little like, skirt thingy in the front. That was the best part.'

Kakashi laughs, 'You must've been very young when you started performing.' he says. Hanako raises an eyebrow at him until Kakashi narrows his eyes. 'Take your mind out of the gutter, you know what I meant.'

'Yeah.' Hanako smiles, 'Sorry. And yeah, I was, I don't know, thirteen probably? My bro- some of the other kids were dicks about it, but I didn't care.'

'When I was a kid, I used to drag my parents to every circus that came through town.' Kakashi says. He's leaning his bad arm across his knees, actually resting it for once. Hanako doesn't think he's noticed, so she takes care not to look at it too much.

'Yeah? In Chicago?' Hanako doesn't remember Otoga ever hitting Chicago, they tended to stay away from the bigger towns.

'Skokie.' Kakashi says, 'I tell people Chicago when I want to impress them.'

'You wanted to impress me?' Hanako asks. Kakashi's leaning the side of his head against the back of the couch, looking Hanako through half-closed eyes. She mirrors him, settling in comfortably.

'Had to get you to stay.' Kakashi says with a shrug. 'I didn't want you to die.'

It's stupid to feel touched by that. Most people wouldn't want Hanako to _die_, that's no actual reflection on Kakashi. Still, she likes to hear it.

'Go to sleep.' she says, 'You look beat.'

'You too.' Kakashi orders. 'You still have that cough.'

Hanako could argue that she's way better and she's not the one who had nightmares all last night and then half killed themselves with PT. She doesn't though, because that'll just wake up Kakashi all the way.

'Me too.' she promises, bumping her toes against Kakashi's.

* * *

Despite what she said, Hanako doesn't take the opportunity to nap. She tries to finish the Captain America book, but finds that she's spending most of her time looking over the top pages at Kakashi.

It starts out totally innocently, just Hanako checking to make sure that Kakashi's comfortable, that he isn't having any more bad dreams. Then she realises that Kakashi's dark eyelashes are really long where they're resting against his cheeks and she gets distracted.

The whole thing where Kakashi's attractive is really annoying. Why couldn't he be an ancient and grumpy old man who'd rescued her? Guys with cheekbones like that and gorgeous grey eyes shouldn't go around being nice to Hanako. It makes her think thoughts.

She stretches out her legs and feels equal parts creepy and happy when Kakashi mumbles something and leans some of his weight against Hanako's calf.

His wait against her makes Hanako feel good inside and this dumb crush thing isn't hurting Kakashi, so maybe Hanako's allowed. Kakashi'd just laugh if she told him, anyway. He's twenty-eight and an army veteran, it's not like he's going to be interested in some dumb teenager like her.

* * *

**Next chapter will be out on Wednesday. x**


	8. Chapter 8

It's gotten dark when someone knocks on Kakashi's door. He gets up, checks the peephole and then opens it. He doesn't ask Hanako to hide, so apparently he's okay with whoever it is knowing she's here. Hanako keeps doing the dishes, but glances over her shoulder, checking out their visitor.

It's an old guy, stooped and stiff-looking, wiry hair white where it's not fallen out.

'Mister Teuchi,' Kakashi says, hovering at his side, 'Take a seat, please.'

Mr Teuchi shakes his head at the couch, when he's offered it. 'I'd never get up again.' he says, smiling wryly. He's got a strong Jamaican accent with a bit of a New York twang to it. 'I came by to ask for a favour.' He lowers his voice, looking up at Hanako. She automatically looks away.

Kakashi makes a reassuring noise, 'This is my friend Hanako. What do you need, sir?' he asks.

Mr Teuchi makes a sound like he's embarrassed. 'The light's out in my entrance hall. I called that goddamned... I've called our landlord about ten times, but he still hasn't been by, and it's getting so I can't tell if I've locked the door at night.

'That's terrible.' Kakashi says, sounding somewhere between reassuring and pissed. Hanako guesses that he's pissed at their shitty landlord, not this nice old guy. 'Have you got a ladder?'

'I do. A ladder and a spare bulb. I thought about doing it myself, of course, but with my hip the way it is...'

'No, no.' Kakashi interrupts, 'I'll do it.'

'I can do it.' Hanako offers, without thinking about it. She looks over at kakashi, trying to convey _you'll hurt your shoulder_ without saying it.

'I don't want to put anyone out.' Mr Teuchi says quickly, the kind of tone that means he doesn't really want a stranger in his apartment. Which is cool, it's fine, but Hanako will be damned if she's letting Kakashi hurt himself.

'I'll go.' Kakashi says firmly.

'Dude.' Hanako protests, but gets ignored. Her hands are covered in soap suds and, by the time she's grabbed a towel, Kakashi's already leading Mr Teuchi out of the apartment.

Hanako slumps against the sink, thinking dark and grumpy thoughts about stubborn assholes who won't let her help.

* * *

The next day, Kakashi looks out the window, shivers, and says, 'Do you want to get out of here for a bit?'

'I'm allowed out?' Hanako asks. She's mostly joking, but she hasn't actually gone outside since Kakashi got her up those stairs. It hadn't really occurred to her.

Kakashi doesn't seem to get the she's joking, because he looks genuinely appalled. 'Of course.' he says, 'Hanako, of course you can. You're not a prisoner.'

'I know, I know. _Dude._' she says quickly, 'Where d'you wanna go?'

Kakashi doesn't look convinced, like he's accidentally become Rumpelstiltskin or something. 'Lunch?' he offers. 'My treat.'

Hanako thinks about the money she got from Tsunade and the rest that is tucked away in her jeans. She can spare a little bit.

'My treat.' she says, and then just glares at Kakashi until he laughs and holds up his hands in surrender.

* * *

New York looks totally different when you're not trying to pick the best place to sleep for the night. The place Kakashi wants to go is a subway ride away and they end up cutting through streets lined with stores that are decorated in lights for the holidays.

'What's the date?' Hanako asks, stopping to look at a terrifying mechanical Santa in one of the windows.

'December 5th.' Kakashi says, standing next to her and tipping his head, like he's trying to work out why Santa's rosy cheeks keep popping in and out. Hanako isn't thinking about that.

'Seriously?' She turns away from Santa and toward Kakashi, which is a way better view. 'I thought it was still November.' she thinks about it. 'I missed Thanksgiving.'

Kakashi bumps his shoulder against hers, 'I'll buy you a pumpkin pie.' he says. He looks over at her and frowns, 'And also some gloves. Here, take mine.'

'No, no, what?' She protests, watching as Kakashi strips his leather gloves off his hands and passes them over. Hanako folds her arms and refuses to take them. 'Nope. You're injured, you need them to keep you warm.'

The corner of Kakashi's mouth curls up. 'Wounded, I was wounded. And my shoulder is a long way from my fingers.'

Hanako just looks at him. She's just as stubborn as Kakashi fucking Hatake, okay, she just hasn't had a chance to show it yet.

'Fine.' Kakashi says, before stuffing the gloves in his pocket, grabbing Hanako's arm and pulling her into the store. He tugs her over to a display of winter clothes along one wall. 'Pick some of your own.'

Hanako's not sure if this is better or worse than stealing gloves from Kakashi. 'I can't.' she says, kind of hating him right now for putting her in this position. There are clerks at the checkout counter, looking over at them curiously. 'I can't afford these, these are really nice.'

'Didn't I just say I was going to buy you some?' Kakashi asks, sighing like Hanako is a trial. 'How about these?' He reaches for a pair of dark crimson gloves and there's no way he can know that those were the same ones Hanako was eyeing up, but it's still damn unfair.

'You're not exactly rolling in it, either.' She murmurs under her breath, 'Check the price tag.'

'They can't be that-' Kakashi starts to say, then flips the gloves over so the price tag is facing him, not Hanako. 'Oh. That's a lot.'

'Yeah.' Hanako shouldn't feel better because Kakashi can't afford them either, but she does. It makes her feel less like a waste of space. 'Put 'em back before someone makes you buy them.'

'I could still get them for you.' Kakashi says, looking sad.

'Nope. No way.' Hanako takes the gloves out of Kakashi's hand and hangs them back up. Then, because Kakashi did it earlier so it must be okay, she tucks her hand into his arm and pulls him out of the store.

It's just starting to snow again, and the cold slaps her in the face (and in the fingers, but she doesn't mention that).

'At least let me buy you some from Target later.' Kakashi says, 'Maybe get some with Totally Spies on them.'

'Fuck you, I'm not a kid.' Hanako says, pretending to be hurt, because she actually is kind of hurt and that's stupid. She's already resigned herself to the fact that Kakashi thinks of her that way. 'And if you want to warm me up, take me to Starbucks. I want one of those crazy, syrupy Christmas drinks.'

'Ugh, those always make me feel sick.' Kakashi says, but he does an about-face and leads the way to the nearest Starbucks anyway.

* * *

Hanako gets an eggnog latte and convinces the barista to put a shot of caramel brûlée syrup in there too. It's maybe the sweetest thing she's ever drunk, and it's totally gross, but it's worth it for the look on Kakashi's face.

'No.' he says, somehow ninja-ing his way to an empty table that she would've sworn wasn't empty two seconds ago.

'No?' Hanako asks, flopping into the other chair and kicking her feet up onto the table. Kakashi looks at her and shakes his head, so she shifts them back down again.

'You're going to give yourself diabetes.' He tells her, sipping at his own double shot cappuccino. 'And your teeth will fall out.'

Hanako grins, pretty sure she's wearing a foam moustache right now and not caring. 'I'd be sexy as fuck with no teeth.'

'It would be useful for bow jobs.' Kakashi says, then pauses, looking like he can't decide if he's sorry or not for having said that.

Hanako takes just long enough to process that she really did just hear that and then she spends some time dying of laughter, giggling so loudly that other people in the store turn around and look.

'Stop it.' Kakashi says, kicking her ankle. 'I'm sorry, that was incredibly inappropriate.'

She takes a sip of her coffee to try and stop laughing, fails, and ends up choking on it. Then she's just a mess of coughing and laughing and coffee up the nose, but it's still worth it.

'That was completely inappropriate.' she gasps, 'That was amazing. Who knew you had such a dirty mind, Kakashi?'

'That was inappropriate.' he repeats. 'You're _seventeen_.'

'Yeah, but I'm not...' she waves a hand, 'I'm not one of those sheltered suburban kids. I've seen things.'

'Exactly.' Kakashi had been smiling before, but now the smile fades, 'You've been through enough. You should get to be a kid for a while.'

'I don't want to be a kid.' Hanako says, hoping she sounds firm rather than petulant. 'What the fuck is so good about being a kid? Kids just get stuck with the decisions other people make for them.' She says, hoping she doesn't sound bitter.

Kakashi opens his mouth like he's got a counter argument, but then his eyebrows draw together and he stays quiet. 'You're right.' he says eventually. 'Would you like another disgusting latte to celebrate you maturity?'

'Fuck off.' Hanako says, but she doesn't mean it.

* * *

Despite Hanako's best efforts, Kakashi manages to by her a scarf and gloves, both in this really nice deep crimson but not as scarily expensive as the first ones they looked at.

Hanako likes them so much that she wants to keep them on even after they get back to Kakashi's apartment, but that'd be weird, so she makes herself take them off. Then she carefully tucks them away in the corner behind the couch that she's taken over with her sleeping bag and the dirty clothes she hasn't worn since that first shower.

They both gravitate to the kitchen without talking about it, ending up with a mug each of Kakashi's gross herbal tea.

'I enjoyed today.' Kakashi says quietly.

Hanako looks up at him and can't help this ridiculous smile thing her face does, 'Yeah?' she asks, trying not to sound hopeful. 'Me too.'

Kakashi goes back to drinking his tea and Hanako tries to find something else to say. This was easier while they were strolling Manhattan. And it was much easier before Hanako realised how desperately she wants them to be friends.

Speaking of, 'Do you have people you usually hang out with?' Hanako asks. 'Wait, do you have a girlfriend? Am I totally cramping your style?'

'Totally.' Kakashi says, deadpan, then laughs. 'The closest thing I've had to a date since I was discharged was the time Tsunade had to help me wash my hair. Believe me, that's not an experience I ever want to repeat.'

'Wow.' Hanako says. Then, in the spirit of having a conversation like a real person, she pushes on, even thought trying feels stilted and awkward. 'How did you meet Tsunade?'

'I probably shouldn't tell you since it's classified.' Kakashi says slowly, like he's trying to decide if he can. 'But it involves a ton of C-4, a very angry goat herder and four days hold up in the mountains.'

'Mountains in Afghanistan?' Hanako guesses. She bets that Kakashi's war stories would be way more exciting than any of the books on his shelves.

'I'm worried that you don't understand what classified means.' He says.

Hanako makes her expression as innocent as it can go. 'Hey. You're the one who mentioned the goat.'

* * *

It's scary how easily they fall into a pattern. Hanako's never been someone who has, or needs routine, but she kind of likes this one.

They have breakfast. Kakashi spends forever over his first coffee, because he's hilariously sleepy without it, then they take the rest of the morning to work on Kakashi's exercises. Afternoons are spent doing things that Kakashi decided Hanako will find interesting or fun.

Hanako wants to tell him that there's zero chance of her getting bored, but maybe that's weird, maybe she's _supposed _to be bored, so she keeps her mouth shut and just enjoys late brunches and trips to the movies and ice skating at the Rockefeller Centre.

(They're both really bad at ice skating. They get lapped by small children, but it's still pretty awesome to see how Kakashi laughs every time she falls over.)

It's after one of the movie trips that someone starts banging on Kakashi's door. Hanako glances over at him, surprised since Kakashi's never really had any visitors.

'Stay there.' Kakashi says softly and stands up, crossing the room and pressing his eye to the peephole. 'Fuck.'

'Who is it?' Hanako asks, but Kakashi shushes her.

'Go into my bedroom.' He says, turning away from the door and speaking so softly that she barely hears what he's saying. Then he smiles, like he's trying to be reassuring. 'Don't worry.'

'Definitely worried.' Hanako whispers back, but she gets up and retreats down the hallway.

Inside Kakashi's room, she leaves the door open a crack and squints through it, watching as Kakashi unbolts the door and says, 'Good evening.' super politely to whoever's on the other side.

'Why take so long to open door?' demands a voice in an accent Hanako recognises. 'I knock you answer, bro.'

'I was getting ready for bed.' Kakashi says, still polite, waving a hand down at his sweatpants and t-shirt.

'Is early.' Tracksuit Guy says and barges past Kakashi into the apartment.

'I'm tired.' Kakashi steps in after him but leaves the door open. "Can I help you? If this is an inspection, I'm legally allowed twenty-four hours notice.'

Holy crap, Tracksuit Guy is Kakashi's landlord? He needs to move.

'Not inspection.' He walks slowly around the living room, _definitely_ inspecting it. He stops when he sees Hanako's sleeping bag and Hanako winces, holding her breath. 'You go camping?'

Kakashi shrugs easily, 'In the summer.' He says, 'That's in case I get cold on the couch in the evenings. The heating doesn't work too well. I'm sure I left you a voicemail about that.'

Unsurprisingly, that gets completely ignored. 'I had offer to sell building.' Tracksuit Guy continues, like Kakashi is his shrink and he's just sharing his thoughts. 'I say no, but it make me think. And I think maybe I not getting full value from tenants. Perhaps rent should go up.'

Kakashi doesn't say anything, but Hanako can see his expression tightening.

Tracksuit Guy turns and looks at him. 'Extra fifty dollar month not unreasonable for man like you, no?'

'I think you'll find I've signed a lease.' Kakashi says, 'And that everyone here has.'

Tracksuit Guy tips his hand from side to side. 'You yes, everyone no. Leases can be broken, rent can be changed.' He shrugs and turns toward the door. 'Was just thought. Thought you should know. Good night.'

'Good night.' Kakashi says tightly. He waits until Tracksuit Guy's in the doorway and then very pointedly walks over and locks the door in his face.

Hanako would like to be that awesome, but she would probably just have punched him.

As soon as the door's locked, Kakashi slams his open palm into the wall, just the once, then straightens his shoulders and comes toward Hanako.

Hanako pushes the door open and leans in the doorway. 'Your landlord's creepy.' She says, 'Also, he's the dude who chased me out of the hallway when I first got here.'

Kakashi rubs a hand over his face. 'My landlord's a fucking asshole.' he says.

'Yeah.' Hanako shrugs. 'That. And like, an extra fifty bucks for this place? No offence, but unless you're paying negative zero at the moment, that's not worth it.'

'He wants me out.' Kakashi says. He leans against the door so they're opposite each other, postures mirrored.

'Because the other tenants like you?' Hanako asks. He looks surprised that she figured that out, but it's not like it was hard. 'And you help them out?'

'I don't think it's necessarily anything I do.' Kakashi says, which is obviously bullshit. 'They just feel I'm someone they can come to, because of my background.'

'Right.' Hanako says, 'That's it. Not like you're super reassuring and awesome or anything.'

'I'm 'awesome'?' Kakashi asks, like he's sixty years old and has never heard the word before.

'Oh, don't front.' Hanako says, embarrassed, and shoves off from the doorjamb. 'So what're you going to do about him?'

'I don't know yet.' Kakashi touches Hanako's arm before she can move past him. 'Wait a second, I want to show you something.'

He walks past her and over to his bedside table.

'Can you handle a gun?' He asks, opening the drawer and pulling out the pistol Hanako remembers very well from the other night.

'I can handle a rifle.' She says, 'Never used a pistol, but I can't see why not. I can pretty much shoot anything, so.'

'All right.' Kakashi says. 'I don't want you to shoot anyone. Please don't shoot anyone, in fact. But if you're here alone and you honestly feel threatened, I want you to know that you're protected.'

'From your landlord?' Hanako asks dubiously. 'Yeah, the guy's a dick, but I don't think you're allowed to shoot people for that.'

Kakashi puts away the pistol and quickly shows her where the ammo is. 'He has mob ties.' he says, 'He's a dick, but some of his friends are worse than that. Plan A is that we both stay out of their way, but just in case, alright?'

'Sure. Alright.' Hanako knows she should probably be worried about what exactly she's gotten herself into, but mostly she's just really pleased that Kakashi trusts her and that he's worried about her.

'Good.' Kakashi looks satisfied. 'Want to see what's on TV?'

'Sure.' Hanako says, shrugging. Totally, no big deal. Happens every day, right? A guy showing you his illegal gun collection.

* * *

**Next chapter will be up Friday afternoon. x**


	9. Chapter 9

Sadly - or maybe luckily - Hanako doesn't get to shoot anyone that week. They get to the point with Kakashi's exercises where he can stretch his arm all the way up and hold it for a five count. Hanako tries not to think about what's going to happen when Kakashi doesn't need her help anymore.

Then on Sunday afternoon, Kakashi decides to read in the living room since it's snowing outside, and Hanako decides to take a shower, because she can't get over how awesome showering is.

Kakashi laughs at her about it all the time and says she's the only teenage girl in the whole world who has to be talked _out_ of the shower, but he also bought Hanako her own fancy-ass loofah thingy and a brand new fluffy towel.

Hanako doesn't want her own shower gel. She likes the way Kakashi smells.

She's singing some Billy Joel to herself when she leaves the bathroom, and walks straight into a tiny little boy clutching a toy fox.

Thank fuck she's dressed.

'Uh, hey.' she says, skidding to a stop with one hand on the bathroom door. 'Who are you?' If Kakashi has a tiny, dark-haired son, he's kept him very quiet.

'I need to pee.' He says seriously, eyes very wide. 'You took forever.'

'Sorry?' she tries, but he's already hustling past her and closing the door, managing to clip her on the ass with the handle as he goes. She stares at the closed door for a second, bemused, before heading over to the living room. 'Kakashi? There's a really bossy kid in your bathroom. Oh, hey.'

'Hi.' The lady on Kakashi's couch says. Hanako's not a genius, but she'd wager that this is the bossy kid's mom. 'Sorry about Konohamaru.'

'Yeah, no, that's- he's cute. I like his scarf.' Hanako turns helplessly to where Kakashi's standing in the kitchen, filling the kettle.

He's laughing. Bastard.

'Hanako,' he says, 'this is Kurenai, she lives on the second floor. Kurenai, this is Hanako.'

'Hey.' Hanako says again. She likes the way Kakashi glosses over explaining who the fuck she is. Smooth.

'Hi.' Kurenai says again.

Hanako slides over to Kakashi, leaning into his side and whispering, 'Your neighbour is laughing at me. That's not cool, dude.'

He flashes her a smile, 'Would you like to stay here and make the coffee while I talk to Kurenai?'

'Yes.' She says firmly. She likes coffee. Coffee never laughs at her.

She futzes around, taking as long as possible to make three cups of coffee and ignoring Konohamaru, who's standing about two feet away and staring at her. Like, he's standing two feet away at _all times_, even when she moves, he repositions himself.

It's a little creepy, and Hanako's a girl who like the smell of Kakashi's shower gel - she knows of creepy.

'Do you want something?' she asks at last, after the coffee's definitely as ready as it's going to get.

He steps back and points very definitely at one of the bar stools. 'I want to sit up there.' he tells her.

Hanako looks at the height of the stool, looks at the height of him, and decides that he's probably not going to crack his skull open. 'So sit up there, then.'

He gives her a look like she's an idiot. 'It's too high.'

Right. Okay. 'Give me a minute.' She tells him, and lifts a hand when he goes to follow her again. 'Stay there.'

She picks up two of the coffees and takes them over to where Kakashi and Kurenai are talking quietly.

'Thank you.' Kakashi says. 'Do you want to sit down? I could move up.'

'No, uh. I'm gonna entertain the kid. If that's alright?' she adds, looking at Kurenai.

'That's very alright.' she says. 'Just remember that his fox is named Naruto and he has feelings too.'

'Right.' Hanako grins, 'Got it.'

Konohamaru turns out to weight about as much as a pillow, so it's easy for Hanako to swing him up and onto one of the bar stools. Hanako sits down on the other one, and Naruto, the cuddly fox, decides to sit on the table.

'Do you live here?' Konohamaru asks.

'Nope.' She answers, straining her ears to try to hear what Kakashi and Kurenai are saying.

Konohamaru kicks his feet, tiny sneaker colliding with Hanako's kneecap. 'Where do you live?'

'In a cave under a bridge.' she says, which makes him look at her really dubiously. It doesn't seem to make him any less interested in her though. 'What?'

'I don't believe you.' He decides.

'Well, sucks to be you, because it's true.' She sighs and gives up on eavesdropping, 'Before that, though, I lived in a circus.'

'With lions?' he asks, like that's a deal breaker.

'Yup.' One lion, anyway. A really old one, who no one expected to do much of anything other than be a really big house cat, anymore. 'And a lady who breathed fire and a man who could fly.'

'Really?' he asks.

Hanako nods as seriously as she can.

'Draw him for me.' He says. Seriously, this kid is so bossy.

'Oh, no, kid. I'm really not much of an artist.' Hanako tries, but he folds his arms and lifts his chin so it looks like she doesn't have much of a choice.

She steals some paper from Kakashi's printer and does her best to draw a trapeze artist for him. She really is shit at drawing, but Konohamaru doesn't care about the mechanics of the swing, just how spangly the outfits should be, so it keeps them both busy for a while.

It's not until Kakashi and Kurenai stand up and Kurenai comes over to collect Konohamaru that Hanako really thinks to be embarrassed about essentially relegating herself to the kid's table while the grown-ups talked.

But after Kurenai and Konohamaru have left, Kakashi squeezes her shoulder and says, 'Thanks for doing that.'

'Sure, yeah.' Hanako says quickly. Konohamaru took her drawing with him, so now she's just left with another sheet of paper and a sharpie, which she shoves aside quickly. 'Everything okay?'

Kakashi sits down in Konohamaru's seat and pulls the paper and sharpie towards him. 'Kurenai and her husband are getting the same sort of shakedown that we got the other day. Luckily, neither of them is easily intimidated, but I'm worried about the older people in this building.'

Hanako props her elbows on the table and leans forward. 'So, we're going to do something about it?' she asks, thinking about nice old Mr Teuchi.

Kakashi looks up, pen hovering over the paper. He seems to be writing a list. '_I _am. There's no need for you to get involved.'

Ow. That stings. 'And yet I'm already involved.' Hanako says, hoping that sounds logical enough since she doesn't really have a _good_ argument, she just wants to help.

Kakashi studies her closely, silently, while she straightens her shoulders and doesn't squirm.

'Okay.' Kakashi says. He spins his list around until Hanako can see a column of names and numbers. He picks it up, tears it in half and gives the bottom half to Hanako. 'These are all the tenants in the building who I know have had problems with our landlord. What I want to do is visit them and find out how many of them are also being threatened with a rent hike. If we can get enough of them together, we can form and action group, get this worked out.'

'And if that doesn't work, you start shooting?' Hanako asks.

Kakashi shakes his head. 'That's plan Z.' He says, in a way that leaves Hanako unsure whether he's actually joking or not.

* * *

In a revelation that surprises no one, least of all Hanako, people are kind of wary of a strange teenage girl in clothes that are too large for her knocking on their door and asking them questions about their rent. Especially when that girl is Hanako and totally unable to be articulate in the face of her own awkwardness.

Shuffling her feet, smiling hopefully, and dropping Kakashi's name seems to do the trick pretty often though, and it doesn't take too long before she's got a pretty decent list of people who are being harassed by shitty Tracksuit Guy and his shitty friends.

Because Hanako's Hanako and unable to leave well enough alone, once she's exhausted all the names on the list Kakashi gave her, she starts knocking on other doors.

Some of those people are really nice and are totally delighted to learn that there's a cool army veteran on the top floor who wants to solve their woes for them. (Hanako's paraphrasing. Slightly.) Then she knocks on a door and it's opened by a guy wearing a really familiar looking tracksuit and a seriously displeased expression.

And that's before Hanako even says a word.

'Hey,' she says, instead of the spiel she's been developing. 'Do I know your brother?'

'Brother?' this guy says. 'You live here, you know Kakuzu. I Hidan. What you want, bitch?'

'I, uh, nothing.' Hanako tries the _aww, shucks_ smile, already sure it's not going to work. 'Just being neighbourly. Saying hi. So, hi. And bye. I'll be-'

Hidan's hand shoots out and grabs the sheet of paper and the beat up hunk of cardboard that Hanako's been using as a clipboard. Since Hanako doesn't want to let go, Hidan ends up tugging her halfway across his doorstep.

'What this?' he asks.

Hanako does her best to keep it tipped away from him, since it's got people's names on it and that's only going to get everyone in trouble. 'Nothing.' she says, 'School assignment. Really boring.'

She pulls. Hidan doesn't let go. It's about to turn into Russian Mafia Tug-of-War, when she hears a soft whine from her ankles and looks down to find a golden retriever nosing at her sneakers. It's a way nicer dog than the pitbull the other Tracksuit Guy was dragging around on Hanako's first day in the building.

'Jashin.' Hidan growls, kicking at the dog, which distracts him long enough that Hanako can grab back her paper.

She drops to her knees to get in between the dog and Hidan's next kick. 'Hey. He's not doing anything wrong, are you?' she says, putting her hand on the back of the dogs neck.

The dog looks up at her, huge sad eyes pretty much breaking Hanako's heart.

Hidan doesn't pull his kick. It looks like it's aiming for Hanako's stomach, but lands mostly on her hip instead, hard enough to make her grunt.

'Is none of your business.' Hidan growls. 'You seem like you doing lots of things that are not your business, bitch.'

'Sure, but,' Hanako wheezes, refuses to show she's in pain and tries again, 'please don't kick your dog. That's not cool.'

'I teach him to behave.' Hidan says. He grabs the dog's collar and tugs him backwards into the house. It's probably just Hanako's imagination, but she's pretty sure that the look the dog gives her mean he wants to stay with her.

Hanako doesn't stick around after the door gets slammed in her face. She runs up the stairs and manages to arrive back at kakashi's apartment while Kakashi's standing in the doorway, chatting with an older lady.

'Hanako?' he asks, stopping mid sentence, 'What happened?'

'Hanako presses a hand to her side, thinking it's a stitch for a second, then realising it's a throbbing bruise from where Hidan kicked her instead of the dog.

'Nothing, just.' She looks at Kakashi's visitor, not sure if she wants to say anything in front of her. Apparently she's been getting too trusting. Trusting's bad.

'I'll let you go.' the lady says, after looking from Hanako to Kakashi and back again.

'Have a good day.' Kakashi says, then follows Hanako into the apartment. 'What happened?' he asks again.

Hanako forces herself to stop rubbing her hip and waves a hand. 'Nothing, just bumped into Kakuzu's identical tracksuit wearing cousin. He was kind of mean.'

'Did he hurt you?' Kakashi demands, attention zeroing in on Hanako's side even though she has very definitely stopped poking at it.

'That was an accident.' she says, waving it off. 'But he's got this dog, who's miserable and he kicks it and...' she trails off. She'd been so sure that Kakashi could fix things for the dog like he's fixed things for her, but what can he really do?

'Big golden retriever mix?' Kakashi asks. 'I've seen him. He looked okay to me.'

'Dude kicks him.' Hanako repeats, grateful when Kakashi's expression tightens. 'Hard.'

'Let me see your side?' Kakashi asks, but doesn't come closer, just waits. Hanako had forgotten how good he is at that, since they've been getting more comfortable with each other.

'S'not like you can do much.' Hanako says, but tugs up her t-shirt just far enough that Kakashi can see the place bellow her ribs, where it's turning a really nice red with an awesome magenta dent in the middle, the exact shape of the toe of a boot.

'Shooting's too good for him.' Kakashi says, low and sounding really angry for once. He lifts a hand, hovering it between them like he's waiting for Hanako's permission. She reaches out and touches the back of his hand, giving him a small nod.

Kakashi lays his hand against Hanako's side, feeling carefully. It's clinical, but his hand is still warm and gentle and Hanako finds herself swallowing convulsively.

'Did that hurt?' Kakashi asks, which is when she realises that he's watching her face as well as her side. Shit.

'N-nope. You're god.' Hanako isn't good, her voice is shaking like she's never been touched before.

Kakashi slides his fingers carefully from the waistband of her trousers up to the place where her ribs start. His thumb is curled around her side, firm against her back. 'I don't think anything is broken.' He says quietly.

Call Hanako pathetic, but she'd be happy to stand like this forever, all of Kakashi's warmth close by and his hand sure on her skin. 'Good.' She forces out. 'What about like, internal bleeding? That's a thing, right?'

'Well, I can't check inside you.' Kakashi says and then, fascinatingly, he blushes.

Hanako forces herself to look away from Kakashi's face and the way his eyes are shiny. She's reading stuff into this that absolutely doesn't exist.

'I guess not.' She says and bites her lip when Kakashi uncurls his hand and steps back. The words _no, please, don't stop_ are batting at the back of her teeth and that's not okay. She can't ask Kakashi to keep touching her, just because it makes her feel so good.

'Hanako.' Kakashi says, like that's a whole sentence.

'Can we steal his dog?' She blurts out, too loud, just wanting to drown out whatever it is Kakashi's thinking.

'I...' Hanako isn't sure she's ever seen Kakashi hesitate. He looks derailed, but that's okay. 'Maybe. One thing at a time. How did you do going door to door?'

'Good, yeah.' Hanako knows her enthusiasm is coming out totally false but if she just keeps on faking it, it'll be okay. 'And I found some more people too, want to see?'

'Yes.' Kakashi says. He's still looking at her like he's worried about her and she can't have that, so she spins away, leading Kakashi over to the breakfast bar and talking a mile a minute until he joins in.

* * *

As hard as Hanako tries, things don't get less awkward. It's not like anything happened. Hanako just liked Kakashi touching her, and it's not like Kakashi could've known that. Which means the awkward must be all in her head.

Still, she hates it and she hates herself for risking the first decent friendship she's had in forever on a pointless crush.

She hates it when they're doing Kakashi's exercises and he keeps his shirt on for once, and she hates it when they're sharing the couch and Kakashi keeps his feet to his own side, rather than letting them overlap with hers.

Okay, so maybe Hanako isn't imagining it. She's pretty sure it's still her fault though.

'Hey.' she says, while they're doing the dishes after lunch. 'Want to go somewhere this afternoon?'

'Maybe not. I'm pretty tired.' Kakashi says, which Hanako doesn't think is true, since Kakashi tends to look tired when he is and he looks fine.

'Sure?' Hanako should let it go, but instead, she pushes, 'You don't have any last minute Christmas shopping to do?'

'I'm sure.' Kakashi says and reaches past Hanako for a dirty mug, carefully not looking at her.

Hanako can't stand this anymore. She reaches out and grabs Kakashi's hand before he can touch the mug.

Kakashi freezes. 'What are you - ?' he asks, looking up.

Hanako stares back at him helplessly for what she knows is far too long. Kakashi has such gorgeous eyes.

This is a really bad idea. This is the worst idea. But Hanako's just going to do it anyway and then deal with having fucked everything up later.

She presses one hand to Kakashi's cheek and curls her fingers carefully. Kakashi sucks in a breath and goes where Hanako wants him to, which is way more encouragement than she should have and just as much as she needs.

She steps all the way forward into Kakashi's space, pleased when he turns to meet her and not really caring about the way his soapy hands get caught between their stomachs.

'Hanako.' Kakashi says, but he doesn't say _no_ so Hanako kisses him. It's such a dumb thing to do, but she loves it anyway. Kakashi's mouth is soft and still and then less soft and way less still as he kisses her back.

Hanako's so surprised that she ends up clinging onto Kakashi's upper arms, kissing him and being kissed. Kakashi pushes his tongue into her mouth and groans and makes fists in her shirt and it's the most goddamn amazing thing that's ever happened to her, until Kakashi suddenly makes a harsh sound and steps back.

'Don't say that shouldn't have happened.' Hanako begs immediately. She's breathless and shaking and she just wants Kakashi back so they can kiss again.

Kakashi looks spooked and flushed all at once. 'That really shouldn't have happened.' He says, 'I'm sorry.'

'You're-' Hanako grabs at his hands where they're still fisted in her clothes. '_I _kissed _you_, you don't need to be sorry.'

Kakashi shakes his head. He's breathing as fast as Hanako is, so very obviously turned on too, and Hanako doesn't get why he won't just go with this.

'But I'm much older than you and I should know better.'

'Don't.' Hanako snaps. 'Don't play the age card. You're not that much older than me.' She can feel this slipping away from her after just being given it, and it makes her stomach squirm and get all knotted up.

Kakashi looks sad, but he still doesn't try to tear his hands away from Hanako's. 'I'm too old for you. And look what I've already gotten you involved in. You should be worrying about school, not mafia shakedowns.'

Even Hanako can hear that her laugh's bitter and horrible. 'Don't you dare tell me you're not good for me. You've been better for me than anyone else in my life.'

Kakashi's expression goes open and broken for a second before he really obviously crushes all of that down. 'It doesn't matter, anyway.' He says at last, like they're having a new conversation. 'You're not really attracted to me.'

Hanako's heart is pounding, she knows Kakashi can feel it. 'I'm definitely attracted to you, dude.' she says, trying to sound calm like he is, not like she's having her heart shattered.

Kakashi nods. 'Okay, but you don't have feelings for me. You're grateful that I gave you a place to stay and you're confusing that for... something else.'

'And how about you feel?' Hanako demands, pretty certain that arguing that she knows how she feels way better than Kakashi isn't going to get her anywhere but infuriated. 'You kissed me _back_.'

He did. He really did. He kissed her back and _how_. Hanako's never been kissed like that.

'How I feel doesn't matter.' Kakashi says quickly.

'Bullshit. Why not?'

He finally takes that extra step back. 'Because this isn't going to happen.' He untangles his hands form hers. 'I'm sorry.'

He turns away, staring down into the abandoned dishwater, and Hanako doesn't know what to do, what to say, or where to put herself. She stares blankly at the side of Kakashi's head while he very, very methodically starts to scrub a plate that Hanako's pretty sure is already clean.

This is worse than thinking that Kakashi doesn't feel the same. Knowing that he does feel something and still isn't going to let anything happen makes Hanako feel hurt and angry and empty. And stupid, so very stupid.

'Fuck you.' She hears herself say, 'You like me and you're to scared to give it a try because, what, because I'm young and you think I don't know how my own feelings work? Bullshit.'

Kakashi's shoulders go tight and Hanako can't even bear to look at the side of his face, anymore. 'Well,' he says, after a pause, 'that was immature. Thank you for proving me right.'

Furious tears spring into Hanako's eyes, but she's not going to stick around and let Kakashi see, let him think that she's even more of a kid. 'Just... fuck you.' she says again, and storms off.

There's nowhere to go inside the apartment, everywhere's Kakashi's, so she heads straight out through the front door and down the stairs.

She stomps down the first flight, but she's lost all her fight by the time she hits the next corner. At the second floor, her knees give out and she sits down hard on the stairs, hands clenched into fists so she doesn't start smacking herself in the face for being _such an idiot_.

She wants to cry, but she's not going to. She presses her face into her hands and snarls, furious with the world.

'Hanako?' she hears and looks up to find Kakashi's neighbour, Kurenai, coming up the stairs towards her. 'Are you okay?'

'Yeah.' she forces out. She pushes a smile onto her face and tries to move out of her way. Kurenai stops next to her and sits down, which is the opposite of what she wants.

'You look like someone whose world just ended.' she says, bumping their shoulders together.

Hanako stares down at her knees and says, 'Yeah.' again.

'Fight?' she asks knowingly.

Hanako looks up at her, 'Huh?'

For some reason, her confusion makes Kurenai smile. 'Did you fight with Kakashi?' she asks. 'My husband tends to wear exactly that expression when we have a big fight.'

'Kakashi's not my husband.' says Hanako, trying to laugh like that doesn't hurt.

'And he never will be, if you spend your time sulking on the stairs.' Kurenai says, standing up. She looks down at her and sighs, 'You can come play with Konohamaru for a bit, if you need somewhere to hang out.'

'Yes.' Hanako says, jumping to her feet. She knows she's going to be shitty company, but not having to go back and face Kakashi sounds great.

* * *

**Sorry this chapter is a couple days late! I'm extremely busy at the moment, so the next chapter will probably be another while. But hey, longest chapter yet, so that's good. x**


	10. Chapter 10

Hanako ends up staying with Kurenai and her awesomely cool husband Asuma until after dinner. Then Kurenai kicks her out with a pat on the back and a 'Buck the fuck up and go back to your guy.'

Hanako's pretty ashamed that she never did tell her that Kakashi's _not_ her guy, but not ashamed enough to correct her now.

She trudges back up the stairs and leans against Kakashi's front door, telling herself that she'll knock in a minute. It's going to be okay. It's not like she hasn't taken care of herself a million times before. She doesn't _need_ Kakashi, she just wanted him.

She taps her knuckles against the wood, half hoping that maybe it'll be too quiet and Kakashi won't hear her, that she can have another couple of minutes in limbo.

Instead, the door swings open immediately and Kakashi stares at her. His expressions cycles through what Hanako is pretty sure is relief followed by more relief and then his usual sort of blandly friendly.

'Come in then.' he says, 'Have you eaten?'

'Yeah,' Hanako comes in and leans against the door, closing it as she does, 'Kurenai fed me.'

'Good.' Kakashi flashes a smile at her that doesn't reach his eyes. 'Look-'

'No, you look.' Hanako says, before shaking her head. She didn't mean for that to sound so confrontational. She doesn't want another fight. 'I'm sorry about what I said. I'll move out tomorrow.' A month ago, she'd be moving out right now, but she's gotten soft and she can't stand the thought of spending tonight on the streets.

Kakashi looks stricken and he starts towards her before stopping himself. 'No, Hanako, don't be an idiot. You don't have to leave.'

'Of course I do.' Hanako scuffs her foot along the floor, feeling awkward. 'I'll probably jump you again if I stick around, and you don't want that, so. Besides, it's not like you need me anymore. You've gotten tons of movement back in your arm.'

Kakashi closes his eyes for a long moment. 'That's not why you're here. You know that was just an excuse. Please stay.'

Fuck but Hanako wants to say yes. 'You gonna stop saying you don't want to kiss me?'

Kakashi shakes his head.

'Then I've gotta go.' Hanako shoves her hands into her pockets and lifts her shoulders up towards her ears, a half shrug that gets derailed when she realises that it's kind of comforting.

Kakashi curses under his breath, and walks into the kitchen. Hanako sits down on the couch and stares miserably at nothing. She's still staring, when Kakashi appears in front of her and puts a mug of tea down on the coffee table.

Hanako looks at the weird swamp-water colour of the water and snorts, 'I'm not gonna miss your gross tea.' she says then stops, suddenly all chocked up over what she will miss.

'Where will you go?' Kakashi asks, sitting down next to her.

She shrugs, even though she does have kind of an idea. 'Don't worry.' she says, 'I'll be okay.'

'It's December 23rd tomorrow.' Kakashi says. 'Stay until after the holidays?'

Fuck, Hanako didn't realise it was that late. 'That would be way worse.' She says, trying to picture doing some tiny version of Christmas dinner here with Kakashi and having all these fucking feelings hanging over them like anti-mistletoe.

Kakashi sucks in a breath and leans back against the couch cushions, mug cradled against his chest. 'For what it's worth, I'm sorry.' he says.

There's nothing much to say to that, so Hanako doesn't say anything.

* * *

Hanako doesn't sleep much that night. She drags herself off the couch as soon as it starts to get light, then realises she can't go without saying goodbye, no matter how much easier that'd make everything.

Kakashi emerges not much later, rubbing his shoulder absently, his pyjama pants twisted at the waist.

'Oh.' he says, stopping like maybe he expected Hanako to be gone already, or maybe he forgot she was going at all. 'Wait, don't leave yet.'

'I can't keep hanging around.' she says. It's easier to pretend to be cool with it this morning, she's so tired she's not really feeling much of anything.

Kakashi looks like he wants to say something and then changes his mind about it, because he opens his mouth, closes it again, then finally says, 'Tsunade owes you money. At least let me run out to a cash machine and get that for you.'

'I don't need your money.' Hanako says, while one part of her brain - maybe the only sensible part - tells her not to be so fucking stupid.

Kakashi's expression goes stubborn. 'She paid you for three days and you've been here nearly three weeks. I'm getting you the money. Have breakfast, take a shower, then I promise I won't trick you into staying any longer.'

Hanako doesn't mean to, but she agrees. She heads off for a shower, because she can't watch Kakashi's morning routine again today, not without aching herself to pieces inside.

Also: showering. Which she loves and who knows when she'll get to have a decent one again.

When she gets out, awesome loofah clutched in one hand - Kakashi bought it for her, so she can probably take it with her - Hanako finds that he's already gone out.

That's great, she decides. She can pack in peace. Except when she goes to roll up her sleeping bag and tuck away her things, she finds that her sweatshirt and jeans, the ones she hasn't worn since she got here, have disappeared.

She maybe panics. Kind of a lot.

She's on the brink of an actual freakout, when Kakashi comes back, a holdall in one hand and a weird look on his face.

'Have you moved my clothes?' Hanako asks, forgetting how awkward everything is, because she needs to know. 'Shit.'

Kakashi sets his holdall down next to Hanako then kneels down in front of her. 'Yes, I took them to the laundromat, since you never got around to it. They're in there, clean and dry. And you can keep the bag, since you can't keep carrying everything around in your sleeping bag.'

Hanako's not listening. She drags her jeans out of the bag, going straight to the back pocket because fuck, if Kakashi washed them-

'Are you looking for this?' Kakashi asks, reaching into his own back pocket and pulling out a familiar dirty white envelope.

'Oh thank god.' Hanako says, reaching for it and only relaxing when she has it in her hands. Then she realises that Kakashi must know what's in there and looks up, 'Um.'

'There's nearly two hundred dollars in there.' Kakashi says.'I know Tsunade gave you sixty, but what are you doing on the streets with over a hundred dollars in your pocket?'

'I'm saving it.' Hanako says, tipping out the envelope so she can count her battered collection of bills properly. She's never found anywhere safe enough to do it while she was on the streets. 'I didn't steal it.'

'Saving it for what?' Kakashi presses.

Hanako wants to tell him that it's none of his business, but she doesn't. 'My brother's got a business.' she says, 'He says I could go down there, buy myself a piece, if I had five hundred dollars.'

'You have a brother?' Kakashi asks. At Hanako's nod, he adds carefully, 'A brother who let you live on the streets because you didn't have five hundred dollars?'

'No!' Hanako shakes her head, hard. 'That's not what it was like. He didn't know how bad it was, I didn't tell him I'd left the circus. It's not his fault.'

'Alright.' Kakashi says, which she's pretty sure means he doesn't believe her. 'Where is he?' At Hanako's look, he rolls his eyes, 'I'm not going to follow you down there.'

'Kentucky.' Hanako says and doesn't say _please follow me down there, please_.

Kakashi reaches into his other pocket and pulls out a wad of bills, which he lays down next to hers. 'That's the four-twenty Tsunade owes you for helping me out plus a little bit more.' He pauses. 'So. You've got enough to go to Kentucky now.'

'Yeah.' Hanako stares at the money and can't really believe it. She looks up, makes herself meet Kakashi's eye. 'Thank you.' She says, because if Kakashi won't give her anything else, at least he's given her this.

'Is that enough for the bus fare as well?' Kakashi presses, 'I still have that emergency fifty-three dollars under the bed.'

Hanako smiles, remembering the first day they met, when she thought Kakashi was so weird for trusting her with information like that. To be fair, Hanako still thinks he's weird, but now she likes it.

'I'll get the cheapest ticket.' she says, 'I should have enough.' It doesn't seem real, even as she's saying it. She's been working for months to get to Sasuke and Kentucky, it can't suddenly be happening.

Maybe if she could really believe it was happening, she'd be able to feel happier about it.

'So,' she says, repacking her jeans and stuffing her sleeping bag - and loofah - alongside them, 'I'm gonna go?'

'Take this with you.' Kakashi says, dropping the terrible Captain America book into Hanako's bag. 'It's a long ride to Kentucky.'

Hanako swallows and nods, zipping up her bag so she has an excuse not to look at Kakashi. She stands up and swings the bag over her shoulder.

'Thanks.' She says again, looking at the space over Kakashi's shoulder.

'Stay.' he says, then looks away. 'Sorry. I just had to say that one more time.'

Hanako really wants to stay. 'Yeah. And no. I...' Awkward or not, she really wants a hug, but Kakashi doesn't offer her one, keeps his arms folded across his chest, so Hanako just flashes him a weak smile instead and turns to go. 'Oh and um, good luck with the Tracksuit Twins.'

'I'll look out for the dog.' Kakashi says quickly, 'And you can call me, if you ever need anything.'

'Yeah.' Hanako says. She doesn't have Kakashi's number. She wonders how long it'll take for Kakashi to remember that. 'Take care of yourself.'

'You too.' Kakashi follows her to the door and takes it from her, leaving her with no excuse not to step out into the hallway.

'Bye.' Hanako says and just... walks away. She doesn't stop, doesn't look back, doesn't take any time to dwell on the corner of the stairwell where Kakashi fed her toast, or look down the second floor hallway towards Kurenai's apartment.

She just keeps walking, and in no time at all, she's out on the sidewalk in the snow.

* * *

**Next chapter will probably be up next week. x**


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